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Art Deco Mumbai (ADMT) is a public charitable trust that is actively involved in spreading awareness about Mumbai's Art Deco heritage since May 2016. [1] [2] It is a digital initiative that uses social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) and a website to showcase the built heritage. [3] The website is the only repository of information on Art Deco in Mumbai in the public domain. [4] [5] [6]
Since April 2018, Art Deco Mumbai Trust has been a member of the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies (ICADS). [7] [8] [9] This membership has enabled the institution to forge partnerships that have fostered knowledge sharing, cultural and educational exchange at a global level. [10]
The organisation (ADMT) believes that documentation is a crucial step towards enabling conservation and that transferring heritage from one generation to another is imperative. [11] They aim to bring Art Deco heritage into Mumbai's mainstream dialogue on heritage and empower the different stakeholders to make conscious decisions. [12] [13] [14] [15]
Since its inception, ADMT has undertaken the documentation of art deco heritage in various neighbourhoods within Greater Mumbai. [16] [17] [18] Through their documentation initiative, they have catalogued numerous Deco buildings in socio-culturally diverse neighbourhoods like Churchgate, Marine Drive, Mohammed Ali Road, Shivaji Park, Matunga, Chembur, and Bandra, among others. [5] [19] Their research initiative focuses on disseminating studies that explore social, cultural and political themes around Art Deco buildings in Mumbai, especially building work conceived by first-generation Indian architects in collaboration with homegrown contractors and independent artists. [20] [21] [22]
As part of its outreach initiatives, the organisation engages with different educational and cultural institutions of local and global relevance to spread awareness amongst the youth about this 20th-century heritage. [23] [24] [25] [26] They also host public lectures that enable city residents to broaden their understanding of Mumbai's Art Deco movement. [27] [28] [29] [30] [12]
From October 2017 to January 2018, the organisation was commissioned by Mumbai Mirror, a single edition local newspaper, to author a weekly column "Have a Decco" aimed at exploring the relationship of the city with the architectural style (Art Deco) across neighbourhoods. [31]
On the occasion of International Day for Monuments and Sites 2020, Art Deco Mumbai came online on Google Arts & Culture platform through a new partnership between Google and the Trust. [32] [33]
For over a decade, trustees of ADMT have led stakeholder representation in the preparation of the UNESCO Nomination of "The Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai" successfully inscribed as a World Heritage Site on 30 June 2018. [34] [35] [36] This nomination aims to safeguard a total of 94 buildings of which 76 are Art Deco. [37] [38] The organisation has incorporated hashtags #WHSOval and #WHSMarineDrive in their website inventory to ease search related to these Art Deco buildings. [39] Art Deco Mumbai Trust has also designed a pocket-sized map of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that celebrates the architectural legacy of the city in a visually engaging and informative manner. [40] [41] [42] Additionally, ADMT, along with the other stakeholders of Federation of Residents Trusts have produced a short film that spreads awareness about the World Heritage Site and the unique relationship these spaces share with the citizens of Mumbai. [43] [44]