Tag: Urbanisation
-
Crossness Pumping Station Open Day
Sunday 23rd October was Open Day at the Crossness Pumping Station. The ‘Thames Tides’ installation, created by Susi Arnott and I, screened throughout the day alongside the mighty beam engines. You can still catch the show this Friday 28th Oct. Details and photos below. Crossness Pumping Station. Friday 28th Oct. 2016 Where?Crossness Pumping StationThe Old […]
-
Thames Tides at Crossness Pumping Station
Thames Tides is screening alongside the beam engines at the ethereal Crossness Engine House. The huge building combines ponderous machinery and delicate filigree work to astonishing effect. Its function was to pump London’s sewage up above the level of the Thames and release it on an outgoing tide. What better place to screen Thames Tides? Here […]
-
Work, Climate and Donkeys
For donkeys as well as people, the brick kilns in India are dangerous and unhealthy places to work – but unemployment is worse. At the RAJ kiln near Agra, accommodation for donkeys and their owners lies empty. Unseasonal rains have waterlogged the brick kilns and there’s no work for them here. Back in the […]
-
Grazing
In the UK the word ‘grazing’ brings to mind lush green fields. In Madhupur village near Agra we followed donkey owner Daudayal as he took his family’s donkeys to the only grazing available to them. The land doubles as a latrine for the entire village, which lacks basic sanitation. Seeing donkeys eating human excrement turned […]
-
Donkey Cam
Donkeys have a blind spot immediately in front of them, but can see right round to their hind legs – though not behind their head. Simply mounting a wide angle camera on a donkey’s head won’t tell us how a donkey really ‘sees’ the world. But it can tell us something about its working life. […]
-
Arjun, brick kiln boy
This is Arjun, he is a 12 year old boy working as a donkey driver in the MA Ambabpur brick kiln near Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India. This story will tell you about how he spends his day. This is Arjun’s family. There are five donkey owning families living beside the kiln works. They all live […]
-
Animal traction
In the UK animal traction and haulage are things of the past – relegated to the heritage industry. In India draft animals play a key role in the modern economy. Aside from their use in agriculture, donkeys and mules are essential to the construction industry. The livelihoods of many thousands of marginalised families are reliant […]
-
Modern India is built on the backs of donkeys
Gurgaon, a city outside Delhi, India, is undergoing a boom in construction fuelled by the new Metro link and Delhi’s need for young professionals. Almost every brick in the country has been carried by donkeys during its manufacture. In Gurgaon they also work in lieu of cranes. Unlike cranes the donkeys can deliver bricks and mortar […]