Download HOI appKalpataru, the mythic Wishing Tree from Indian tradition, takes contemporary form as an immersive, interactive installation—fusing modern design with metaphysical symbolism. This contemplative anchor—stands at the confluence of public art, ecological consciousness, and cultural historiography.
Inspired by the ancient practice of resting beneath trees between journeys, Kalpataru invites travellers to pause, reflect, and reconnect. The installation’s mirrored surfaces confront the viewer with a first moment of interactivity: the self, as a motif for impermanence, continuity, and interdependence.
Who are we in relation to nature, to culture, to the roots we sever or preserve?
As visitors move through the space, the installation responds—biomorphic forms shifting with light and movement. Subtly embedded QR codes on mirrors engage as epistemological triggers: each scan opens a multidimensional cartography of India’s living heritage—biodiversity, ethnobotanical knowledge, tribal animism, people’s art, practises, music and beyond. Curated in collaboration with India’s leading organizations, it becomes a conduit—bridging ancient ecological wisdom with contemporary technological poetics. This is not didactic placemaking, but speculative anthropology and slow knowledge: an open-source archive of a civilizational continuum.
Kalpataru is a living artwork that blurs the line between the physical and the philosophical. It invites travellers, seekers and storytellers into a quiet dialogue—between self and collective, past and future. As a form of public pedagogy, it teaches through intrigue, not instruction. In a distracted world, Kalpataru creates space for pause, reflection, and reconnection.
Through interaction and insight, it sparks curiosity, renews awareness, and rekindles our bond with the world around us.
Acknowledges support of: Somit Gupta, Mahua Ghara, Antara Gupta, Sahithya Sethuraman, Anirban Sarkar, Parimal Manna, Sorit Gupto, Rohan Chakravarty, Subhankar Banerjee, PARI, NCF, Roundglasssustain, Green Hub, Azim Premji University, Jungle lodges, Folklore Chronicles, Mongabay India, Wikimedia Commons and others.
Nobina Gupta is a social arts practitioner, researcher, and educator with 29 years of experience at the intersection of art, ecology, and community engagement. She is the founder of the Disappearing Dialogues Collective, working with communities—especially youth—to co-create participatory art that preserves cultural memory and highlights ecological challenges. An alumna of Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, and a UGC-NET scholar, her multidisciplinary practice fosters dialogue and behavioral change in fragile socio-ecological landscapes, including her long-term engagement with the East Kolkata Wetlands, a Ramsar site.
Nobina has exhibited at major international platforms including the India Art Fair, Art Fair Cologne, Art Dubai, Art Stages Singapore, and Art Asia Miami. She has held solo exhibitions- ‘Beneath the Surface’ at Gallery Sanskriti (Kolkata), ‘Prana the Life within’ at Kashya Hildebrand Gallery (Zurich), and JanKossen Contemporary Gallery (Basel), and participated in group shows across the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Indonesia, Singapore, and India. She has curated research based interactive exhibitions at Bikaner House, DAG, KCC, Goethe Institute, and has been awarded Global Green and Prakriti Research Fellowship for building environmental stewardship.
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