Recently, a Mumbai based acquaintance shared her experiences from a trip to Hamburg, the magnificent, culturally rich German port city. The photographic walkthrough that followed revealed a fascinating insight into an urban centre that projected itself as a world-class modern city, without losing its inherent core.

For one, the city thrives on its venues and districts that offer visitors all kinds of options to revel in the arts. There’s Kampanagel, known for its now defunct mechanical engineering factories and warehouses that have been converted to make the space a buzzing theatre precinct. The striking similarity with Mumbai’s mill districts and the immense possibilities of converting these into performance centres, annual festivals, dynamic art exhibitions et al rushed to the mind. It would offer a much-needed avenue for a city that is woefully inadequate with venues for the arts.