13 Dec March 4–13, 2017

Mumbai

 Raymonde has already been in Mumbai since February 14, and will be there until March 31. Velibor and Jin depart from Montréal, still cold and grey as the end of a winter storm continues to rattle the city. The prints are packed in a big tube and travel with us on our flight. After thirteen hours, we arrive at the airport in the middle of the night. We are greeted by the driver Javed who picks us up. We take the highway and drive through small roads to get to the apartment where Raymonde stays with Ram. Impressive traffic surrounds us. “Honking is a language. Everyone honks. People drive bumper-to-bumper here.” Javed kindly starts a conversation with us.

 The apartment is a residence for artists hosted by What About Art?, our point of connection with Mumbai. With our winter coats and sweaters, it is quite surreal to be in such warm air with the space’s windows wide open. Raymonde greets us at the door. We are happy to see each other.

 “I need food. Can we have dinner?” Velibor says, half-jokingly. But given that it would be afternoon in Montréal at that time, with the ten-hour time difference, we find out that he is quite serious. So, Raymonde fixes us something quick, a multigrain toast with some dal. Then we go to bed.

The next morning, sunny and bright, we wake up to the sound of traffic. Ram arrives and we finally meet him for the first time. We have seen him in Raymonde’s photographs, and knew him through her stories. After breakfast, we walk over to What About Art? to see the centre. It is the weekend, so their office is closed. Then Raymonde takes us to the Bandra boardwalk, where our exhibition is going to be. We walk under the sun for about fifteen minutes and finally encounter the view of the ocean. It is thirty-fourdegrees out with blazing sunand palm trees waving inthe wind, their leaves reflecting the light. As the shore is used for drying out the laundry, we see sheets of fabrics laid onto the beach. It is a peaceful site. “It gets really busy at night,”Raymonde says. But for now, there are stray dogs taking naps under the trees and in the middle of the boardwalk, along with people taking breaks and a few couples hanging out by the water.

“You see there? The jetty is hallowedground. People go there to pray.”Raymonde points to the jetty, and we see theground decorated with flags. The site is empty for now. For the few days to come, the landscape will exist with our images on site, against the ocean view. Our work starts tomorrow, after the weekend is over and the centre is back in business.

 Crows

Crows come every morning asking for food. They sit near the window of the living room, waiting for crumbs and rice to arrive at their side. Raymonde and Ram have been feeding them and they know how to ask for it. They sometimes line up and look with their black eyes, tilting their heads side to side. If they don’t see anyone by the living room window, some mornings they go to Raymonde’s window and sit by the edge. They sure know whom to ask.