How these initiatives are changing the way we interact with the Mumbai's heritage

Afghan Church glowed with light earlier this year For three days in August the nearly180yearold church at Colaba was bathed in celestial imagery and sound This radiance though had an earthly source Ascension a projectionmapping experience presented by the Floating Canvas Company during the Mumbai Light FestivalCity folk signed up to watch a landmark they might otherwise have passed without a second glance The appeal of such experiences is easy to understand They interrupt routine invite people to look again and give heritage a contemporary vocabularyThe Bombay Running club organises heritage runs passing by the cityrsquos iconic sites such as Asiatic Society library in FortBut when the lights fade and the Reels are posted what remains Has the audience discovered something about the building Or have they moved on after enjoying a visual spectacle Aagam Mehta head of projects at Floating Canvas Company says the first step is to make people notice what has become invisible through familiarityLights will guide youhellipBuildings can turn into ldquoblind spotsrdquo when we see them every day he says ldquoProjection mapping offers a way to draw attention to architectural details that might otherwise go unnoticedrdquo Mehta addsThe Heritage Group also organises treasure hunts and art walks across landmarks such as Worli FortDuring a similar exercise at Rajabai Clock Tower they had explored Mumbairsquos past present and future through a visual narrative titled Past Forward Mehta recalls residents who had lived opposite the tower for years coming down to thank the team The intervention had made them see it anewAt Afghan Church Ascension explored humanityrsquos fascination with the cosmos rather than presenting a historical account of the site Mehta says each intervention requires research and a storyboard shaped around the building and its architectural detailsRadha Goenka and Aagam MehtaPermissions and site restrictions also determine what is possible ldquoTechnology is just an enablerrdquo he says ldquoWhat you want the user to leave with or what sort of experience you want is more importantrdquoMehta does not see projection mapping as a substitute for a heritage walk The two offer different experiences One encourages people to encounter a structure through light and visuals while the other can explain its historyRPG Foundationrsquos The Heritage Project founded by Radha Goenka uses participatory experiences to make heritage more accessible ldquoHistory is so interesting itrsquos essentially like listening to a beautiful story about your ancestors and who doesnrsquot want to do thatrdquo she asksFrom heritage runs with the run club Bombay Running to community dining experiences the project experiments with ways to bring history into everyday life A collaboration with the Burmese restaurant Burma Burma explored the cityrsquos historical connections with Burma through a walk around Kala Ghoda In 2024 Koli women from Worli Koliwada cooked a dinner at Masquersquos Lab as a way to preserve the Koliwadarsquos culinary traditionsThe approach extends to conservation At Banganga the team used research walks murals signage a childrenrsquos book and digital resources to draw attention to the historic precinct ldquoWe literally brought a place back on the maprdquo Goenka saysPeppering in localsldquoWe work with the local community because we think eventually they are the real preservers of the siterdquo says Goenka explaining that their walk leaders are people trained from the community ldquoSo they earn from it toordquoMeasuring the impact of such work however is difficult Visitor numbers cannot capture whether people become invested in its preservation Goenka compares it to throwing a stone into a pond beyond the impact visible at the point of contact here are ripples that travel much furtherSolving puzzles to learnElsewhere immersion comes from turning participants into active observers Yooti Bhansali began gamifying heritage walks because she found the familiar format of pointing at buildings and delivering information difficult to sustain A quizzing enthusiast herself her walks use quizzes treasure hunts and clues to encourage participants to notice details they might otherwise missThe exercise might involve examining an architectural feature or using an old map to navigate a neighbourhood ldquoWhen you ask people to find something in particular there is a greater chance that they observe morerdquo she saysldquoPeople across age groups respond to the opportunity to solve somethingrdquo she saysBhansali also points to walks that move into lanes and local spaces where residents share oral histories that may not be recorded in archives Such encounters bring a lived dimension to the history of a placePerforming littleknown historiesTheatre offers another way to recover stories that conventional heritage narratives overlook In Postcards from Colaba writer and director Vikram Phukan turns South Mumbairsquos streets into a moving stage for the neighbourhoodrsquos queer pastThe work blends a guided walk with theatrical performances music recorded audio and monologues with actors and audiences moving between locationsThe piece grew from Phukanrsquos research into landmarks associated with Mumbairsquos underground gay scene in the 1980sAt stops around Colaba the work brings attention to figures such as filmmaker Riyad Vinci Wadia whose film BOMgAY explored queer life and theatre personality Sultan Bobby Padamsee It also revisits spaces that held significance for queer communities adding layers of memory to familiar landmarksParticipants use headphones to get into the mood of the next story Interactive elements lights and more keep the experience movingldquoThe play is almost conversational We do not demarcate a space for the audience and restrict them to itrdquo Phukan told this paper in 2024Accessibility and engagement cannot come at the cost of accuracy Atul Kumar a conservation architect and founder of Art Deco Mumbai believes the strongest starting point remains a wellresearched walk Projection mapping he acknowledges can often be a shortlived intervention ldquoItrsquos only for a few days and at a particular timerdquo he says ldquoBut what matters when it comes to any immersive experience is the quality of the story being toldldquoThere has to be a storyline there has to be context I donrsquot believe you can take liberty with facts particularly historical facts And nor should they ever be coloured Itrsquos for the participant to determine what their takeaway isrdquo he saysKumarrsquos work also shows that immersive engagement need not depend on elaborate technology Art Deco Mumbairsquos digital posts help people identify architectural features and recognise buildings around them even if they never attend a walkKumar admits ldquoWe sometimes forget to ask this question How is it driving change But itrsquos not about statistical analysis There are so many young people attending and there is this wonderful access to these properties which have cultural and social relevancerdquoMeanwhile Goenkarsquos THP has also developed Amble a digital app that people can use to go on selfguided tours ldquoSo if a user had already come for a walk now they can come back with friends and family You donrsquot necessarily need to find time for a walk with usrdquoAttendees SpeakNidhi Lodaya 27 Media professionalldquoWhat I liked most about lsquoPostcards from Colabarsquo compared to other walks is how immersive it was They used lots of different mediums mdash street play music candy and more mdash to make this walk more interesting It did teach me a lot of about Mumbairsquos queer history enough to get more curious and even retain all the information which later helped me in a trivia contest and wellrdquo