5 THURSDAY, 29 OCTOBER, 2009.
MUMBAI
www.mid-day.com
HERITAGE HUNT
For the next 3 days, artistes across genres will try to capture and preserve city’s charm
HEMAL ASHAR
hemal@mid-day.com
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 work-
shop brings together
approximately 50 people —
designers, architects, artistes,
students and volunteers —
who will fan out into the old-
est habitats of Mumbai for
STYLE MAIN REHNE KA: Fashion designer James Ferreira, who has been on the forefront of fighting to preserve the heritage status of Khotachi Wadi, said that volunteers will be given
paints and they are to paint certain houses and lanes in their unique style. PIC/BIPIN KOKATE
CUT DOWN ON YOUR
OFFICE COFFEE BREAK
Offices, swimming pools and 5-star hotels will face 30 per cent water cut from today
SOMITA PAL
somita.pal@mid-day.com
AN increase in water can mess
your daily routine, even the
number of coffee cups you
gulp down in office every day.
The BMC has revised its
plan to impose 20 per cent
water cut in winter and 30 per
cent in summer till next mon-
soon. It will impose only 15
per cent water cut till next
monsoon on housing societies. PEE TIME: Coffee is a diuretic
Offices and five-stars hotels, ensuring more bathroom breaks.
including swimming pools, PIC/JUPITER IMAGES
three days and artistically doc-
ument 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.
Says Rahul Srivastava from
URBZ, “For instance, a group
of volunteers will go and look
at Crawford market or all the
buildings owned and man-
aged by trusts in Bhuleshwar.
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.
“We have students from
India, Japan, Italy, USA and
Sweden engaging in this cre-
ative 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
will, however, face 30 per cent
water cut from today. The
decision was taken in the
group leaders meeting yester-
day at the BMC headquarter.
Unfair cut
Mayor Shubha Raul said, “It is
unfair to levy a 30 per cent
water cut on residents. The
administration should take
other steps to solve water
crises.
“Desalination project is
being worked upon, bore wells
will be encouraged, and recy-
the URBZ workshop, says,
“There are different ways to
document an area and draw
attention to its importance. In
case of Khotachi Wadi, volun-
teers 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
cling of sewerage water will
also be given priority. The 30
per cent water cut on offices
will save around 15 to 20 per
cent water.”
The BMC announced 10
per cent water cut in June due
to shortage of water in the six
lakes — Modak Sagar, Tansa,
Vihar, Tulsi, Upper Vaitarna
and Bhatsa.
Twenty per cent water cut
was imposed in June and 30
per cent in July after which it
was brought down to 15 per
cent in August.
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 docu-
mentation, the participants
will get together and translate
their findings into a presenta-
tion in a medium of their
choice. However, the bottom
line for each is the same –
looking at the city through
fresh eyes and helping inhabi-
tants to upkeep their heritage
premises by turning them into
sustainable projects.
METRO
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.
Visit http://urbz.net/ for
more on URBZ MISHAP
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.