Zenab Kazmi

!آو لڈو کھیلتے ہیں Ao Ludo Kheltay Hain! (Come, Let's Play Ludo)

Public performance piece to raise awareness about the gentrification of the Gerard India Bazar

“This site-specific performance responds to the gentrification of Gerrard India Bazaar in Toronto, a historically South Asian neighbourhood shaped by migration, memory, and community. As businesses closed and the area was increasingly rebranded for real estate appeal, I began thinking about what happens when cultural presence is replaced by something more marketable.I chose Leela Indian Food Bar as the site of the work, a place I once knew through familiar food, music, and atmosphere, now transformed through the aesthetics of sanitized multiculturalism. In response, I brought a hand-painted Ludo table made by Pakistani artisans into the space and gathered with friends to play. We laughed, spoke, and occupied the patio through shared presence.Ludo, a deeply social and nostalgic game across South Asia, became a form of soft resistance. Through play, memory was reactivated. Through gathering, space was reclaimed.This performance sits between protest and celebration. It asks who gets to remain, whose joy is welcomed, and what returns when a community chooses to be present anyway.”