Cities are dense tapestries of homes, commerce, transport, and human experience. To explore a city’s identity is to examine these layers and the histories that interweave them. The City in the Archive presents a visual and historical reflection on Kolkata, guided by art historian Dr. Tapati Guha-Thakurta and researcher Dr. Sukanya Mitra.

Drawing on Dr. Guha-Thakurta’s 2011 exhibition and publication of the same name, the conversation examines images from the CSSS archive of 20th-century Kolkata. This exploration considers the city as both a site of production and a milieu of industrial, social, and aesthetic formation. Positioned alongside Sudhir Patwardhan’s Cities: Built, Broken, the discussion invites audiences to reflect on urban life, visual culture, and the historical shaping of cityscapes.