HOW TO GET THINGS DONE


How to create a museum in Dharavi?
Step 1: Go to Daharavi
Step 2: Make a museum


Dharavi is a place of entrepreneurs, from small teashops to big businesses that supply the greater Mumbai with all sorts of goods; people come to this homegrown neighbourhood from all over India to create a livelihood for themselves. And we are no different.


Space is minimum and conditions are no joke, so people get creative. Production possibilities - quantity and quality - are limitless. We went to Dharavi with a set idea in our mind in terms of the design of our Museum. Quickly, we learned that we had to adapt that idea. The museum had to be a bit smaller, more flexible and overall new and shiny, so local makers would be very proud to work with us and take ownership of the platform.


Instead of having a museum that was towed by a scooter, we liked the idea of market carts that are pushed by hand and that are normally used to sell fruit and other goods. Ours had to be bigger than the usual ones and it had to get a strong metal structure to support the museum walls. We met with the 'Dharavi cart master’ that owns hundreds of carts and rents those out for 1000 Rs. a month (you do the math). He was willing to create a new, bigger, shiny cart for us in only 5 days. And a metal company down the road made the metal structure and the push handles in even less days.


At this moment the carpenters and electricians are working hard to create the walls and lighting for the museum on the community square that is our first location. And on the 17th of February we launch Design Museum Dharavi!


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