Bombay Underground: Publishing the Revolution 1 Favorite 

Bombay Underground: Publishing the Revolution

Flipping the modern, commercial definition of art on its head, Bombay Underground began in 1999 as a a group of people standing for free expression and creative social exchange. A means of engaging with local groups, mobilizing protest campaigns, and facilitating neighbourhood projects, Bombay Underground operates without a permanent space in the city, but with a solid, meaningful impact on the communities it works with.

Founded by Himanshu S over 10 years ago, he's joined in the full-time running of the group by Aqui Thami, while a family of rolling members contribute, volunteer, promote and lend helping hands wherever necessary.

Working closely with the foothpath booksellers of Bombay, the group often purchases books from them in times of bleak business (such as the monsoons) and takes on the responsibility of selling them further.

Always focused on meaningful activism, this is reflected in their self-publishing model of zines, which are free from any editorial control and to which anyone is welcome to contribute - 'the plan is to create a site for reflective inquiry, thoughtful opposition and meaningful engagement. We are interested in the undocumented / the underground / the lost / the forgotten.'

Since 1999, they have been working with children from Dharavi slums. In 2009 the idea of Dharavi Art Room was born with the sole purpose of engaging children in expressing themselves through art. They were given cameras to photograph their lives in the slums and their work was displayed in an art gallery. The photos of the events can be found below.