For the next 3 days, artistes across genres will try to capture and preserve city's charm
For the next 3 days, artistes across genres will try to capture and preserve city's charm
When Mumbai heads to work today, a group of artistes from various walks of life will head deep into the city. Armed with paints, cameras, handycams and pens they seek to capture the Mumbai that we miss in the daily grind.
The URBZ MASHUP workshop brings together approximately 50 people designers, architects, artistes, students and volunteers who will fan out into the oldest habitats of Mumbai for three days and artistically document different areas.
URBZ MASHUP usually invites creative people who share an interest in urban life to explore a city, debate, ideate, create fictions, photo-collages, music and videos about the city all aimed at the heritage and icons of a city and ways to preserve them.
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They will document this in words or pictures. They will then come up with the best ways to preserve the character of these places, instead of turning them into hi-rise glass and steel monstrosities.
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"We have students from India, Japan, Italy, USA and Sweden engaging in this creative exercise, which ends on Sunday."
Colour me wild
Fashion designer James Ferreira, who has always been in the forefront of fighting to preserve the heritage status of Khotachi Wadi, and is a part of the URBZ workshop, says, "There are different ways to document an area and draw attention to its importance.
In case of Khotachi Wadi, volunteers will be given paints and they are to paint certain houses and lanes in their unique style."
Says Matias Echanove of the URBZ, "The workshop is mostly self-sustained though there is some support in kind from JJ College of Architecture, Wilson College (through allowing us to use their premises).
Asian Paints has donated paint for an art project in Khotachi Wadi and Green Grower, (Pest Control India) is donating plants to green areas, The Khotachi Wadi Welfare Heritage Association has also chipped in."
After two-days of documentation, the participants will get together and translate their findings into a presentation in a medium of their choice.
However, the bottom line for each is the same u2013 looking at the city through fresh eyes and helping inhabitants to upkeep their heritage premises by turning them into sustainable projects.
50
The number of people engaged with URBZ MASHUP in Mumbai
Did you know?
In May, Eleni Korka, director of Greek prehistoric and classical antiquities, said, "Female visitors must wear shoes that do not wound the monuments." That meant absolutely no stilettos.
How they spread the message
URBZ puts up the final results of each workshop on their site to draw attention to artistic ways of preserving urban heritage sites in the face of development URBZ MASHUP workshops have been held in Tokyo (July, 2009) and Istanbul.
Arty in Mumbai
The city has seen other artistic beautification projects. In an attempt to beautify Senapati Bapat Marg, over 200 artists painted a 1.5-km stretch between Mahim and Matunga station in August.
The second phase took place on Sunday. The Wall Project is a citizens' initiative supported by the BMC.
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