Mumbaikars got a peek into the ways in which creeks and the city's ecosystem suffer on Thursday, through a four-day exhibition cum festival held to educate them about the same. 'Samvad Khadicha – A reflection of Mumbai's past, present and future' was about conversations of creeks and the life around them.
The festival has been organised between August 25 and August 28, at Shantivan, Mandvi Gully, Versova Koliwada. The event kicked off with a video screening and exhibition, which will also have a cultural talk, food festival and cycle tour of the area.
“The festival is about the importance of creeks, celebrating Koli and Warli communities that live around the creeks and play a significant role in the conservation of the creeks and ecosystem,” said Harpreet Bullar from the Ministry of Mumbai's Magic, which organised the festival in collaboration with Bombay 61.
The Ministry of Mumbai's Magic is a city-based collective trying to bring youth together to talk about climate issues and create avenues for them. Meanwhile, Bombay 61 is an organisation of architects and urban designers that use community participation for urban solutions. The two groups have come together to make Mumbai more “magical and sustainable” through the exhibition-cum-festival.
“It was around 6 years ago that we started working to see how the degradation of beaches happens. The sources were creeks and the most impacted were the Kolis,” said Jai Bhadgaonkar from Bombay 61. According to the group, the intervention was with an idea to show how the Kolis are suffering. The exhibition started with a screening that showed 500 kg of plastic waste being removed.
“Our exhibition is a compilation of different narratives that quote photographs from the 1950s to the present day. These showcase the changes that have happened, the kind of water system that used to be, and livelihood around,” said Ketaki Bhadgaonkar from Bombay 61.
