Image of big city life in Warli style: Sion road, Dharavi

The presence of tribal communities in the Mumbai Metropolital region is not so well-known. Warlis, Kathkaris, Thakkars, Bhils are some of the many forest linked communities that are as integral to the peripheral landscape of the city as are industries and concrete developments. The fact that Mumbai encompasses both, the most densely populated neighbourhoods in the world, along with a natural tropical forest within its municipal limits, is also a counter-intuitive complement to this story.

While Warli art has become as gentrified as an art gallery in a heritage urban precinct, the reality it represents is hugely significant. Tribal communities in India represent a relatively independent section of a caste-based society. Their loss of control over forest lands, which traditionally provided them the economic basis of social independence had a huge impact on their lives. Today all statistics on poverty are actually framed by a community based angle and the scheduled tribes constitute one of the lowest indicators in terms of economic status. And yet, they are at the forefront of political resistance in different parts of the country. Within the larger narrative of tribal India, the potency of even gentrified, over-exposed art forms from the Warli community tell something about the complexity of social life in India.

Warli art has historically been showcased on the walls of their homes. The stylized images are powerful expressions, and their simplicity only enhances the meanings conveyed. Bodies that are slightly bent express motion, arms and legs may consist of only a few lines but communicate much more.   The paintings are a way of telling stories and depict scenes of everyday life, mythological stories, events expected in the coming year, or just entertainment. The Warli style of painting is said to date back many centuries and may have migrated all the way from Africa. Today, many people have moved to the city of Mumbai and scenes of everyday life in this dense city are very different from the old paintings.

Warli paintings representing daily life in the village.

Later this year, probably in September, we are planning a one week event in which young people can learn Warli art. Warli artists will come and teach children, teenagers, and students how to tell stories of their own life in attractive drawings and paintings, a bit like in cartoons. At the end of the week, the paintings will be brought together in an exhibition which will show everyday life in Dharavi as seen by today’s young generation.

The event is about connecting art and everyday life. Warli painting will be connected to the city, and youngsters will learn an art that once was part of the life of their own family. It is about making connections between the city and tribal, the present and tradition.

It goes without saying that the exhibition will be opened with a great celebration in which all participants can proudly present their achievements to their friends, families, and the community. Although the event is primarily educational, the artists will have a good time too as Dharavi is an extraordinary place to make paintings of.

Cybercafe and city-style furniture

The images in this post are made by artists of the Adivasi Sahaj Shikshan Pariwar Center in Masvan Palghar. Their art work is a source of income from which the center can finance its activities: education, healthcare support, social forestry and farming, and women empowerment.

The event will be organised in a close cooperation of local schools, Warli artists, URBZ, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. Contact Sytse de Maat for more information.

Post by Sytse de Maat, PhD student in architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, and Urbzman.

India has experienced unprecedented growth in the past one or two decades. However, “New India”, liberalized, globalized and “shining”, has yet to define its model and the values it embodies. Becoming a megapower, home to some of the wealthiest individuals and companies in the world, cannot be an end in itself. If the “new” in “New India” is to mean anything then we have to make the effort to imagine what it could be. As of now the “new” seems to merely be about copying and supersizing the same old economic wisdoms that have produced unsustainable, polarized and crisis prone regimes in the West.

The age structure of India, where nearly 50% of the population is under 24 years old makes it clear that the aspirations and decisions of the youth will shape the country’s future in dramatic ways. In these times of transition when India is redefining itself, and asserting its newfound position in the world, we must look at ourselves anew, drawing as much from our roots as our collective imagination.

Youth are leaving villages and moving to the city –sometimes coming back with new means and ambitions; in the city the same youth gets absorbed as workforce in the booming private sector, where they seek to climb the economic and social ladder. Youth wants it all, here and now, fast and furious. They want what they perceive as Western standards for themselves. They are aware of their country’s problems, and either feel contempt and a need to run away. Or they want to make a change for themselves from within the system.

What they often forget in the process is the tremendous potential that lies deep in the civilization they are part of. Indigenous systems in homegrown villages and neighbourhoods for instance, which have survived multiple layers of colonization, modernization and globalization, could be a source of inspiration for new development principles altogether.

The development we are thinking of is based on small, thoughtful, sustainable solutions, rather than huge, “time changing”, “mega” stream of thinking; on individuals and communities, rather than corporations, departments and agencies. It is the kind of development that could ensure a bountiful of resources for generations to come. It is the kind of development that takes as its measure individual happiness rather than the GDP of the country.

Because we seem to have left them behind as we rushed for the gold, it has becomes necessary to expose these persistent and widespread (yet undermined and threatened) systems all over again. This is why we are committed to a long enduring search for the buried organizational structures that still follow common-sensesical economy principles, and which are connected human needs and mother earth’s means. We do this by documenting the lifestyle and architecture of existing indigenous villages. We propose to go back to the village and explore its intense and simple livelihood principles. Based on our observation, we brainstorm on the best way to take some of these principles to scale in their own small ways.

The research program called “The Umbilical Connection” is a first step in this direction. For a month we will research and document the village of Murbad near Dahanu (a few hours from Mumbai), and speculate on the future the village and on the relationship between the village and urbanization. This program is intended as a discovery more than as a teaching experience. The conductors of the workshop (Design Jatra) are themselves not equipped with full knowledge of the village’s systems. We commit ourselves to this research along with the participants and villagers. We therefore do not have a preset agenda and objective. We hope to engage with the village, and hope to become ourselves actors in its development.

The workshop starts with a detailed documentation of sustainable local practices, which enrich the life of the village. The second step is a documentation of two structures in the village, which are built according to different construction principles. The third step is to use the knowledge gathered in the first and the second steps to co-produce with the villagers a twenty-year vision for the village. The fourth and the final step is set our vision in motion. It can be anything from a landscape element, to an architectural intervention, to planting a tree, or organizing a small exhibition.

The workshop is open to anyone who wishes to commit to the journey we expect to begin. This means developing a deep relationship with the village of Murbad, and thus it will enable the participant to become a part of the village now and in the future.

The workshop is be held from 1st of May to 5th of June. It is a come in and out workshop which means that participants can join the workshop at whichever stage they want. However, we would really prefer that participants join with the journey for as long as possible and as far as possible.

For more information about the workshop, contact Shardul Patil via this page.

Shardul Patil is a student at Academy of Architecture in Mumbai and a member of URBZ. Pratik Dhanmer, a practicing architect and fellow member of URBZ is a co-organizer of the workshop and co-author of this post.

Ataide Caetite is a successful pedreiero (builder/contractor) from Paraisopolis, a large and dense homegrown neighbourhood in Sao Paulo. He has built over 70 homes in the area and in the countryside. With a heavy reliance on his own individual labour, along with a close association and support of his clients, each home of his is a testimony to his dedication to the craft of construction. This workshop is a tribute to his dynamic work.

Marcella, Gabriela, Fernando and Valeria have been preparing the workshop for a few months now. It revolves around the refurbishment  and construction of two floors up of Ataídes’ house. The workshop starts this weekend and goes on till the 25th of May! We are excited and looking forward to what will be a very enriching experience.

This workshop invites the student-architect to learn about building houses with local residents, which is relevant to their local needs. It goes beyond a conventional lesson about construction techniques. The workshop aims at generating a practical understanding of the dynamics of this important part of Sao Paulo. We can no longer deny the diversity of urban forms, construction techniques and lifestyles even within such a modernist city.

This is a collaborative project bringing together residents, professionals and students. They will observe, understand, debate, teach and learn with each other. The workshop will be joined by women from the residents’ association, as well as engineering and architecture students and faculty from the Escola da Cidade.

Paraisópolis, as well as many other communities in São Paulo, are neighborhoods that have not been well understood and recognized. The workshop, organized by URBZ Brazil aims at  providing an opportunity for students to learn more about urban life, a practice that we believe will become increasingly applicable to the future of this country and and its major cities. And of course to produce the best possible house for Ataide!

Ataide Caetite

URBZ Mashup participants at the Unbox Festival, New Delhi, Feb 2013

Conceptual map of the urban system produced at the workshop (click to enlarge)

The Absolut vodka infusion lab also doubled up as the site for our URBZ workshop on exploring the idea of urban systems at the Unbox Festival 2013, Delhi. The spirit of infusion was definitely the flavour of the event. The theme of the session (explained here and here) invited participants to represent the concept through a map in which visual representations were infused by their own personal connect with the concept. As we went on drawing an inter-subjective map of India’s circular and mashed up urbanism, we constantly reminded ourselves of the words of our friend and mentor Yehuda Safran. Confusion is not a bad thing. It means “with – fusion” – it is a coming together of everything and thus the most fertile state of mind. It is a necessary condition of collaborative and creative work.

What began as a regular jostling and tugging of the idea in a brainstorm soon took off as an imaginative exercise that encouraged creative and personal readings of the concept and the making of its visual expressions.  As the blank charts were slowly inscribed by dreamy landscapes, thoughts, fantasies, images, – a jigsaw puzzle began to unfold in reverse. The participants collectively produced a map that invited more readings by others who came to see what was going on. Their raised eyebrows  soon relaxed into smiles as they began making kinship with the concept. The freshly drawn images and cut out collages spurred on more queries and  personal anecdotes. Eventually the dense map was accompanied by an equally dense collection of meanings, stories and interpretations.

The man selling whipped cream soufflé, a specialty of a particular eating joint in old Delhi with roots in Lucknow made his own connect. His curiosity was piqued by the copious amounts of cream being consumed by a few members of our group. When the idea of the urban system was clarified – he said that it described the story of his life. Every year he spent six months in his village near Lucknow, working on his family land and the remaining six months in the old Delhi restaurant. He traveled by train to and fro and saw himself as connected to both places – with home still being his village of origin – no matter how terrible the conditions. Two glamorously dressed ladies from the upper echelons of Delhi society gave us a long lecture on how they have to deal with great commutes from villages to the city when their drivers and domestic help  vanish for long stretches of time. However, they reminded us – they themselves are connected to their villages and periodically go there to visit relatives. One of them lived in Canada, but no voyage to India was complete unless the mandatory trip to the village had been made.

For every story that celebrates an escape from the feudal clutches of caste and the conservative grip of clan that still thrive in Indian villages, there is another of a continued linkage to it – through shrine, ancestor and family which keeps relationships strong. Our more urbane participants could see the continued presence in Delhi of absorbed villages as a part of the same story – however, as the day progressed, and more people joined the conservation, it became increasingly apparent that the world beyond the city was not as hazy as imagined. At least not for a very large proportion of people who inhabit Indian cities, and continue making their lives  by depending  on both,  their villages or other towns they  are connected to.

Two visiting scholar activists who had left the comfort of their homes in Europe with  plans to stay in a remote Indian village in Uttar Pradesh were excited to explore the concept that actually reduced the sense of remoteness of their destination. The fact that a large chunk of taxi drivers of Mumbai keep going back and forth, from that district (Azamgarh) to the metropolis, traversing hundreds of railway miles each way, surprised and excited them. That the relationship between those two places was active – the district continues to supply a fresh stock of young (sometimes suspiciously young) drivers to the Mumbai cab service seemed intriguing.

The theme of the workshop had a fitting conclusion when the last day was topped up by an invitation to a party in one of Delhis famous farmhouses. As one traversed miles of agricultural land, then found oneself in an oasis of sophisticated interiors, landscaped gardens and urbane conversations laced by vodka, the tragic-comical side of the concept also became apparent. Especially since the car-only guests vanished leaving behind public transport dependent visitors to make their way through the rural innards of the urban system that surrounds and makes up Delhi inside out, round and about. It was a relief to see the blue of the metro far away on the horizon.

As we move on to new destinations, we grow branches that become roots.

WELCOME TO ZILHAPUR!
Walking through the Indian Urban System

URBZ Mashup Workshop
@ Unbox Festival New Delhi, Feb 7th – 10th, 2013

The Concept: Urbanization in India is taking unpredictable turns. The growth of big cities is slowing down. Small towns are developing attitude along with deep interdependent networks into rural hinterlands. Villages themselves are increasingly going non-agricultural, while farming activities are struggling to adapt to new threats and challenges from all quarters.  Urban practitioners are finding themselves at odds while responding to these changes, since most global takes on urbanisation are still stuck in narratives of mega cities and one way rural urban migration – even when the reality in India remains more complex.

What: Participants will produce a detailed map of Zilhapur, an imaginary urban system in central India connecting all kinds of settlements and habitats. In Zilhapur the boundaries between rural and urban, nature and culture, tradition and technology, formal and informal are blurred. The Zilhapur map is a creative celebration of India’s mashed up urbanism where different forms of spatial organization and temporal orders seems to converge and overlap in ways that have not yet been clearly identified. This workshop uses creativity to make sense of emergent and misunderstood urban formations in India.

Expected outputs: 1) A collectively produced collage showing various sites, urban typologies and habitats connected together by communication, transportation, trading and institutional networks. 2) A Zilhapur manifesto (in book form) derived from the system’s organizational principles.

An introduction to the concept of the Urban System is available on airoots.

Top illustration Giacomo Ardesio and Claudia Mainardi