An Inquiry on the Ornament

2025

Mixed media

Variable dimensions 

Supported by and located at Sabha BLR, as a part of Hubba, Bengaluru, India

An Inquiry on the Ornament is a site-specific sculptural installation that contemplates contextual narratives that contemporary architectural ornaments can embody. Rooted in archives of ornamentation on facades of buildings as evidence of migration, war, invasions, revolutions, reverence, power, and their existence today as monuments or ruins, Singh’s project considers whether the personal can decolonize the reliance on appropriative or aspirational narratives in design.

While examining global sites of governance and/or ports with colonial pasts, the first response in this project is an engagement with Sabha BLR’s facade through conversations with people who work and live at or near it, in relation to its distinct history. Sabha is housed in a 160-year-old heritage building that once served as a school, but has been abandoned and lying in disrepair the past decade. The site was recently restored in 2020. Located on Kamraj Road, the site is surrounded by neighborhoods that people have migrated to from various adjoining states since the 19th century when this neighborhood was formed due to the establishment of the British Cantonment. Singh’s work responds to the contemporary individual within a history that spans centuries.

Through personal objects of care and preservation, the artwork embodies those that are imbued with memories that people carry from home to home or keep close as reminders of a person, place, or moment in time. The forms contained within the new ornaments have previously been worn as totems of protection, held as vessels of human connection, or have been treasured as reminders of unfulfilled desires. During the research process, Singh conversed with seven women - Alia, Anuda, Bharati, Dr. Subadra, Kalavati, Lakshmi, and Puja – whose lives have intersected with Kamraj road in different ways. Alia grew up near Kamanahalli, moved to Shivajinagar for her children, and works at a clothing store on Commercial Street. Anuda runs a bajji (fritters) stall near Sabha and lives with her children and grandchildren. Bharati moved from Tamil Nadu and settled in Kamraj Road once her husband retired from the army. Kalavati worked at a bakery outside of Sabha, which she left within the duration of the project; she lives in Hennur. Lakshmi grew up in Bangalore and moved to Kamraj Road to live with her husband and in-laws after marriage. Puja works with children at Sabha every Saturday; she grew up in Jalahalli and interacts with the entire city as part of her work. Dr Subadra grew up in Kamraj road as her grandfather built the RBANM trust. She is a retired principal who worked in a science college in HSR layout. Using the ornaments and stories of these seven women, Singh connects her conversations with the residents of the neighborhood to the evolving architecture and landscape of the city surrounding Sabha BLR.

Throughout our country’s history, architectural ornament has served as a marker of identity and culture, but contemporary architecture has shifted dramatically toward minimalism, replacing traditional forms with steel, glass, and mirrors. In response, Singh’s project intentionally breaks from the conventional rules of ornament—its placement, geometry, and prescribed order—to imagine new forms rooted in lived experience rather than architectural tradition. 

She also links the architecture and the site to the interactions that are had in them. People in Bangalore have conversations about migration, often focusing on IT professionals who move in search of better opportunities. In contrast, this project offers a counter-narrative by highlighting the informal economies embodied in the everyday triumphs of seven women whose lives intersect with Sabha and its surrounding neighborhoods.  By linking architectural language to the longstanding dismissal of women’s contributions in both public and private spaces, Singh centers their stories, memories, and cherished objects as the defining layers of her work. Does the city still remember its past monuments, their ornate design histories, and the people who inhabited them? By excavating the histories of buildings and their immaterial connections, Singh develops a shared visual language between how we remember and create a more shared urban present. 

A special thanks to outreach coordinator and local research liaison Puja Das.