W.I.P Labs

Playground

Where modular meets Carnatic. Charu Hariharan and Vaibhav Batra in a live improvised performance.

Created, conceptualised and produced by W.I.P Labs.

Vaibhav Batra seated on the floor, patching a modular synthesiser
Playground, W.I.P alt.FEST, Bengaluru

It is not a fusion. It is a conversation. Playground is a live improvised performance at the meeting point of two distant sonic worlds: South Indian classical percussion and Carnatic vocalism on one side, and the voltage-driven terrain of modular synthesis on the other.

Neither artist moves toward the other's tradition to make the meeting easier. Charu Hariharan brings Carnatic music fully intact, its rhythmic sophistication and ornamental vocabulary. Vaibhav Batra brings a modular synthesiser that must be built anew before every performance. What emerges is not a middle ground but a third space that neither could occupy alone.

A playground is not a concert hall. It is a space for exploration rather than exhibition, where the point is the playing. Every set is a real-time discovery, and the audience witnesses the whole process of finding out.

Duration
45 to 60 minutes, no interval
On stage
2 artists, minimal staging
Audience
Seated or on the floor, close to the artists
Language
Non-verbal and Carnatic syllables
Premiere
W.I.P alt.FEST, December 2024

Press kit Press kit PDF Book Playground

Reels

Playground at W.I.P alt.FEST, Bengaluru, reel 1. Plays silently; use the controls for sound.
Playground at W.I.P alt.FEST, Bengaluru, reel 2. Plays silently; use the controls for sound.

Who makes it

Photographs

Performed at