Artist Natalia Rodriguez along with URBZ’s Shyam Kanle and the kids of the Dharavi Shelter have produced this photo novel, which is the first of a series. The story was entirely invented by the kids. This fiction says as much about their reality as about their creativity .

In this series, the kids speak about their neighbourhood and lives. They tell us how Dharavi is an ancient place that is surprisingly able to rethink and transform itself again and again

Giving a voice to the kids is urgent and inevitable. Whether it is to talk about communal tension, the arbitrariness of the state or the daily struggles of Mumbaikars. They are not only our future, but also our bright present!

Photos taken by the children of the Shelter at Dharavi are being exhibited and sold at the Kala Ghoda Festival in Mumbai this week. Please come and purchase a photo in support of the Shelter’s activities.

(Click on the photo to enlarge)

After some inspiring discussions with Dipti Hingorani (who’s an URBZ member), Sophie and I were invited to organise a few afternoon workshops for the Kids of the Dharavi Shelter, with the support of URBZ. Working with Marina and Himanshu, we put together different playful activities around the topic of global environmental issues. Our aim was to raise awareness on how growing your own plants can be beneficial to the environment, and is a very simple thing to achieve even in extremely dense area such as Dharavi.

After a first afternoon at the Shelter with Himanshu, Marina and Lasse, we defined how we were going to turn this planting workshop into playful, creative and interactive sessions for the Kids. A treasure hunt through the streets of Dharavi was set up, to explore the hidden gardens and green spaces around the streets of the Shelter. The treasure hunt followed the key steps of the essential elements needed to grow plants, such as seeds, soil, sun, water, love, and gave options on how these plants could be used (for cooking, of medicinal purposes, etc).

The following day the kids drew a 4 metres long collage of their ideal garden space, using pictures from the Maharashtra Nature Park situated a few minutes away from the Shelter.

The end of the workshop involved planting seeds and baby plants using recycle materials for pots. Through these playful activities we hope that the kids learned the simplicity of growing plants and the importance of the impact it can have to improve any urban environment.

Click here for more pictures of the workshop.

This blog post was authored by Sophie Morley and Caroline Dewast, two graduate students in architecture at Oxford Brookes University who spent a week with the kids at the Shelter.

Walking on Mahatma Gandhi Road seemed like being part of a big never ending real time movie. This is the heart of Dharavi, the heart of Mumbai! My nose was filed with a mix of smells of samosa, chai – and lots of dust.

Along the road you can buy everything you can think of. At the end of this inspiring road, I found URBZ’s office. On the second floor of this office that doesn’t really feel like an “office”, a little team of passionate people and visitors are exchanging visions and ideas on how to engage with the neighbourhood in a meaningful way, and how turn the kids into actors in the future of Dharavi.

A little further down the road is the Dharavi Shelter. It didn’t take me more than a couple of hours to fall in love with the kids I met there. The light and spirit, the happiness in their faces, even though they live in a place called Asia’s biggest slum.

I just came to take photos and learn from Dharavi, but soon enough I was offered to conduct a workshop with the kids with the help of Himanshu and others at URBZ. We divided the kids into groups of 3 and gave them a camera. They showed us their Dharavi. They took us to places we would never have found on our own. This is a selection of the photos they toke.

It was a great experience but also way too short. Really hoping to be back in Summer and do this for a longer time. Like a week’s workshop. This is India, I think it will happen.

Lasse Bak Mejlvang, a freelance photographer from Denmark, conducted a day long photo workshop at the Dharavi Shelter and authored this blog post. All photos (except the third one) were taken by children attending the workshop. More photos here and here.

The Dharavi Shelter reopened on Sunday with a new roof, new windows and back door, and an exhibition of the kids’ photos. The Shelter will now also function as a gallery welcoming visitors throughout the week. We are aiming at sustaining the activities through the art produced there, which can be bought at the Shelter itself. If you wish to visit the Shelter Gallery, please contact us a day before.

The opening attracted a big crowd. About a 100 children from New Transit Camp and around participated in the games and celebrations.

Before the opening Himanshu, Olie, Nash, Yumiko, Karin and others organized a game for all the kids in the Ambedkar Hall, 1 minute away from the Shelter.

Flickr Video

Two trees were planted in the Shelter’s backyard by Mr Raphael who has already planted about 50 trees in various parts of Dharavi.   (By the way, we are still looking for some help to turn it into a function playground and meeting space. Please contact us if you can help.) Guests to the event included Sooni Taraporevala, script writer of Salaam Bombay and a movie on the life of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

The previous days the kids painted the wall of the URBZ office. They want to paint many more walls in the coming months making their street one of the most beautiful in Mumbai!

For more photos of the Shelter reopening party, visit www.flickr.com/urbzoo