Hulk at work
A statue of the superhero oversees workers cleaning the gallery of a gym in Girgaon.
Crochet love on the local
Women share cake (left) a commuter crochets on the train. Pics Courtesy/Shruti Shukla
Tired of the monotony of her daily commute, Shruti Shukla, a Virar-based artist, began chronicling moments of community she would find on the Churchgate local.
Shruti Shukla
She spoke about the start of this journey, “No matter how crowded the locals can be people have found their own communities. I came across entire groups that coordinate their crochet sessions and have finished entire projects during the commute. I started documenting that and it took off from there.” Now her Instagram has become a reservoir for the humanity that can be found on a Mumbai local.
Brushstrokes of belonging
Participants work on the mural in Kalyan. Pic Courtesy/Community Kaarkhana
The walls of Snickerdoodle Coffeeworks in Rambaug Lane, Kalyan recently turned into a shared canvas as customers gathered for the fifth edition of Legal Vandalism, a community mural project led by Mumbai-based artist Divya Arekar. Over conversation and coffee, participants painted together, adding their own stories and colours to the café’s outdoor walls.
Disha Chandak
“We wanted to create art with our community, not just for them,” said Disha Chandak, business development lead at the café. She added, “Art has a way of bringing strangers together and making them feel like they belong to the same space.” The final mural reflects the spirit of connection and togetherness that the team hopes visitors take back with them after every visit.
Little green guardians
A moment from a workshop (right) a child builds a honeycomb structure. Pics Courtesy/Local Gyan
Kids are the future,” is a saying all of us have heard time and again, and at Local Gyan they are unleashing their full potential. As they learn the tack of biomimicry alongside Indian Women Scientists Association (IWSA), they also help plan for the city’s future by taking inspiration from nature itself. Sonam Ambe, co-founder of Local Gyan explained what biomimicry entails, “Biomimicry is the process by which we learn from nature. At the play summit, we copy and imitate nature’s solutions to solve problems of the city.” The children gear up to present their green solutions at the Indian Women Scientists Association today.
Drums of liberation
A man playing the parai in Tamil Nadu. Pics Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons; @thepublic.place.mumbai
The sounds of Tamil Nadu’s parai will make their way to The Public Place community space in Kurla for a unique workshop tomorrow. “For centuries, this ancient Tamil drum, and the community that played it, have endured caste oppression and ostracisation. The Adi-Dravidar community was also labelled with the anglicised term ‘pariah’. Over time, it was reclaimed and reintroduced into mainstream cinema by maestros like Ilaiyaraaja,” shared co-curator Pooja A.
Pallavi Pillai and Pooja A
The session will be a collective collaboration and mindful listening of the instrument in its traditional and contemporary form, added co-curator Pallavi Pillai. Interested readers can head to @thepublic.place.mumbai for more details.
