About five minutes from Dharavi’s busy Kumbharwada signal, amidst flimsy tarpaulin-covered shacks and tin-roofed tenements, a group of children animatedly guides visitors towards their “own” museum. The Design Museum — which opened on Thursday evening in the heart of Dharavi — is a collaboration between visual artist Jorge Mañes Rubio, art historian Amanda Pinatih and residents of the area.
On its opening night, the 8 ft by 4ft “moving museum” — a colourful collection of objects mounted on a handcart — bore a welcoming look for its many visitors.
The items on display included clay teacups and saucers, terracotta water filters, reed brooms and painted wooden objects — all made in Dharavi by the locals.
Jorge and Amanda, who hail from Amsterdam, first came to Dharavi four years ago and were surprised to find that the reality of the area was different from the generally accepted idea of it. “We visited Dharavi in 2012, working for three weeks on a research project,” says Jorge. “And we were really surprised at what we saw. We discovered a lot of positive aspects about the place that you never really hear about.”
That first stint was not enough for the duo, they knew they had to return. “We felt that we hadn’t discovered Dharavi completely,” says Amanda. “We decided to come back and do something here. Over the past four years, we thought about what we could do, and that’s how the idea for the design museum came up. We have been here for two weeks now, working on the museum. It has been a whirlwind! But easier than we thought it would be.”
The residents of Dharavi are by now habituated to foreigners visiting the area, wanting to shoot photos etc. But with Jorge and Amanda, it was different, says Shyam Kale, who works with urban research and action collective URBZ.
“Jorge and Amanda wanted to walk around the locality, step by step. And the further we moved, the more inquisitive they became. We went to different areas (to curate the museum’s collection). The designs Jorge and Amanda have curated will help the world see the kind of work our community does. Their ideas were so prolific and they always kept the Indian culture in mind,” Shyam says.
Amanda and Jorge were clear about wanting to go beyond mere curation to actually effecting social change through the design museum. So the objects that made their way into display were chosen with special care, such as the reed brooms. After a week in Kumbharwada, Jorge and Amanda will take the museum to other areas in Dharavi. They also want to tap a lot more of the local talent over the time to come.
