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The HAT Project 2006/07 is supporting 20 exchange fellowships between England, South Asia and Australia

Nick Barberton

Residency at JamFactory

Landed in Mumbai Airport

Posted by Nick Barbeton on 17th February 2007

Hi, We landed in Mumbai airport and acclimatised to the bustle and the hustlers while clearing customs, finding money and a Taxi. One and a half hours of the worst traffic and aggressive driving that we have ever experienced and we were at the hotel and enjoying the dark and Spartan room. We found a good local café and ventured further afield each time we went out. Colaba is tourist land with more than its fair share of people to whom we were the crop to be harvested. We took the ferry to Elephanta ran the gauntlet of stallholders while we climbed the 120 steps up to the caves, carved out of rock with the story of Shiva. Coped with the monkeys, dogs and hustlers. Back in the city we looked at temples, visited galleries with very impressive contemporary art. Taxies seem to be the best way to the sights further afield. A couple of hours walking through vegetable, poultry and paper markets left us stressed and exhausted. Zan and Scott knocked us up on the last morning on their way to Goa. Singapore is the antithesis of Mumbai. Clean and organised. Even the Chain gang in the Airport has a stainless chain. We went on a couple of guided tours of the city. 6am. to 11pm. is a long time to pull through in an air conditioned shopping centre. Adelaide is spacious and very hot. The 40 degrees of the first day hit us hard. Air conditioning is welcome in the apartment. We pop into shops while walking around town to recover. We took a tram down to the beach one evening and blundered into a preview screening of ‘Dreamgirls’ at the Arthouse cinema next door. The Jam Factory is based on the same lines as the Kilkenny Design Workshops. Very impressive.


"AUSTRALIA"

Nick Barberton presents his artist's talk during cHAT week at Sanskriti, Delhi, India. March 2007 (note: the beginning of this video is missing due to a recording error)

Click on image to open QuickTime movie