BMW Guggenheim Lab Mumbai

Part urban think tank, part community center and public gathering space, the BMW Guggenheim Lab is a mobile laboratory traveling to cities worldwide. Led by international, interdisciplinary teams of emerging talents in the areas of urbanism, architecture, art, design, science, technology, education, and sustainability, the Lab addresses issues of contemporary urban life through programs and public discourse. Its goal is the exploration of new ideas, experimentation, and ultimately the creation of forward-thinking visions for city life.

During the Lab’s stay in Mumbai, the Mumbai Lab Team’”an international group of experts and innovators’”created a series of projects, academic and participatory studies, and design proposals that reflect the unique conditions and challenges of Mumbai. The Lab Team included Aisha Dasgupta, a British demographer based in Malawi whose research lies in the field of international development; China-based Dutch architect Neville Mars, who applies urban research to realize sustainable projects on all scales; Trupti Amritwar Vaitla, a Mumbai architect and urban transport designer currently working with the Mumbai Environmental Social Network (MESN); and Héctor Zamora, a Mexican artist based in Brazil who works extensively in public space. The Mumbai Lab Team was nominated by the BMW Guggenheim Lab’™s Advisory Committee.

MOBILE LAB UNITS

The Mobile Lab Units art project spearheaded by Héctor Zamora together with Swati Abhijit brings together temporary off-site Lab structures with informal flash mobs and a special Lab song. The transient and largely unscheduled units subtly emphasize certain aspects of Mumbai’™s everyday life and slightly amend its urban space. The interventions’”which can be experienced in or around the Lab’™s satellite locations’”attempt to heighten awareness of the Lab’™s presence and message of ME=WE, welcoming onlookers to participate in the festive events. By encouraging participants to be neither overly forthright nor political, and by instead fostering environments where not even organizers have full control, Mobile Lab Units show us that, sporadically, we may allow ourselves to cling to a degree of lightness amidst the demands of everyday life.

Join us on a musical journey through Mumbai with Indian contemporary folk-rock bank Swarathma. ‘Is Shahar’ (‘This City’) was written and recorded especially for the Lab and reflects Swarathma’™s reactions to the themes the Lab is addressing in Mumbai.

The video was created by Lab Team member Héctor Zamora whose Mobile Lab Units art project brings together temporary off-site Lab structures with informal flash mobs and the Lab song. These interventions’”which can be experienced in or around the Lab’™s satellite locations’”attempt to heighten awareness of the Lab’™s presence and message of ME=WE, welcoming onlookers to participate in the festive events.

Is Shahar

Written by Puneet SharmaTranslated by Jishnu DasguptaMusic by Swarathma

LYRICS

Main me kya rakha hai ji,

Main ko hum karo mil ke,

Hum huye jo hum sab to,

Taar tab judein dil ke

 

What’s in a ‘me’?

Let’s make ‘me’ a ‘we’

For when ‘me’ becomes ‘we’

We sound like a symphony

Hum ka tarana Gaaye zamana

The chorus of ‘we’Becomes everyone’s symphony

Chhoti chhoti boondo ne milke hi, is shahar ke seene me samandar banaya hai.Thoda thoda sabko baanta hai, is shahar ne zindgi bhar jo kamaya hai.

Main to akela hai sala,Hum hai bada matwala,Main ke mareezo se bolo,Hum ka piye ek pyala.

Little droplets have come together to make the ocean that is this cityThis city has given itself to everyone that has come by

‘Me’ stands all alone, the loser’We’ is the man of the momentTell those suffering from the ‘me’ virusTo take just a swig of the ‘we’ juice

Maano jo shahar ye paheli hai, to hum is paheli ke karodo tukde hai ji.Hum jo milenge tabhi suljhegi, ek doosre se hum kaahe ukhdein hai ji.

This city is a giant jigsaw, and we’re the pieces of the puzzleThat comes together when we come together

Aao paheli ka jodein,Main ka ahankaar todein,Ban jaaye mumbai ke jaise,Mil jaaye gar thode thode.

So let’s all come together nowBreak the fake pride of ‘me’Become like Mumbai city nowIf only we take little steps now

Is shahar ki saansein hum,Is shahar ki aankhein hum,Is shahar ke honto pe,Khilkhilaati baatein hum.

We’re the eyes of this city

We’re the breath of this city

We’re the sweet words on the lips of this city