About
Rishika is a cultural geographer with research expertise in the field of Critical Heritage Studies, Southern Urbanism and Craft Economy from a postcolonial-decolonial thinking/practice. Her work spans across two broad research strands; a. meaning, production and politics of living heritage including craft, sacred sites, sound and smell of southern cities b. community-based economies in postindustrial and postcolonial contexts.
She is currently working on two projects on nationalist urbanism and transnational diasporic heritage, supported by the British Academy and the Korean National Commission for UNESCO.
Methodologically she experiments with participatory research methods, art interventions along with ethnography. For example, see the following co-curated exhibitions and street festivals:
- with Chitpur Craft Collective
- Chitpur Art Trail story map for Kolkata Festival 2019
- Sensory Heritage- Sound/smell exhibition Kolkata 2022
- Sacred Connections: Heritage revival by Indian origin communities in the UK, Southampton 2025
See the full list of her publications/media coverage/engagement work here.