Imagine if a rickshaw pulled up into your neighbourhood and started projecting videos on a boundary wall.
What would happen?
Would the impromptu projections create impromptu gatherings of people?
Would families bring picnics over?
Would impenetrable boundary walls dissolve into ephemeral cinema screens?
This film documents some of these impromptu screenings in Karachi, coordinated by the Tentative Collective Tea – a nomadic collective of people who share resources, across disciplines, to create art in public places.
The project – called Mera Karachi Mobile Cinema – hosts live screenings of mobile phone videos made by the residents of marginalised and migrant communities in their own neighborhoods across Karachi. Produced in response to the prompt, “Home: What did you do last Sunday?” these videos provide snapshots into life in Pakistan’s largest city.
Mera Karachi host screenings using a media rickshaw in isolated neighbourhoods of Karachi in an attempt to transform public spaces – walls, buildings and streets – for peaceful gatherings that promote inclusivity, connection, and intra-ethnic dialogue.