Migrant Car

2019— Temporary sculpture, mixed media, performance. Ed D’Souza’s project for osloBIENNALEN is Migrant Car, a sculpture in which a three-dimensional photograph of a crashed car reproduced in full size is wrapped around a wooden framework built in a joiner’s workshop at Markveien, Oslo. [Ongoing from May 2019]
ParticipantsEd D’Souza

Information

Migrant Car is a collaborative project between Ed D’Souza, Eddie King’s Furniture and Upholstery Workshop and students from Oslo Metropolitan University and the Oslo Academy of the Arts. From May to August, a reconstruction of the Indian ‘people’s car’ the Hindustan Ambassador was moved around Oslo’s new car-free zone. Migrant Car has provided the basis for a number of artistic contributions by and in collaboration with students from KHIO and OsloMet. In the autumn/winter of 2019 Migrant Car started its journey, making the first stop in Bergen in collaboration with Kunsthall 3.14.

Migrant Car

How far can a wrecked car move in a car-free city? Ed D’Souza’s project for osloBIENNALEN is Migrant Car, a sculpture in which a three-dimensional photograph of a crashed car reproduced in full size is wrapped around a wooden framework built in a joiner’s workshop at Markveien. The ‘car’ is rolled about to different places in Oslo. The photograph of the crashed car was taken in Delhi, India, where the artist found the abandoned wreck. The car is a Hindustan Ambassador, a model in production from 1958 to 2014, which was the car in India, popular as taxi, as status symbol, in time becoming a people’s car. Notorious for its bad brakes, many of them ended up as wrecks in a country famous for the rampant growth of its traffic and car culture. Motoring is a global phenomenon, but the cultures surrounding it vary.

In Oslo there is now a political majority in favor of a traffic-free centre, involving the disappearance of private cars from the city streets. There are many borders in the world that cannot be crossed by car because of power struggles and political manoeuvres. Maybe this car brought from elsewhere will remind us of this.

Migrant Car in Oslo Pride, 2019. Photo by Niklas Lello

MIGRANT CAR BLOG

To look back on Migrant Car's journey through Oslo's car-free zone, check out the blog for images, stories & projects.

PRODUCTION:
Migrant Car is a co-production between Ed D’Souza, Eddie King’s Furniture and Upholstery workshop in Oslo, and students from Oslo Metropolitan University and the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. The following students is involved in the project: Maiken Astrup Helland, Camilla Dahl, Tiril Flom, Andrea Galiazzo, Milagros Gola Singh, Ingrid Granrud Veiersted, Darina Gryn, Julie Henning, Marielle Kalldal, Ronny Karlsen, Eddie King, Åshild Kristensen Foss, Geir Listhaug, Alessandro Marchi, Carina Marwell Hansen, Kristian Rosskopf, Karoline Sjølie Aas, Taradol Sutjaritvorakul, Qi Tan, Victoria K. Yankova, Idunn Yr Alman-Kaas, Amanda Aas Andersen.

Video documentation in Markveien 30

At Eddie King's upholsterer workshop in Grünerløkka, there is a video installation displaying the process of making of the Migrant Car.
Watch video HERE

In addition to documenting the building process of the sculpture, the film also focuses on the people building the Migrant Car, and the sculptures relation to the artisans making the sculpture. The video is displaying a process, as well as the film itself is in a continuous process of being edited and will be updated regularly during the time exhibited.

The video could be seen in the window at Markveien 30 until 31.08.19

Filmed and edited by Åshild Kristensen Foss, Ingrid Granrud Veiersted and Carina Marwell Hansen

CAR-FREE CITY LIFE is a programme run by Oslo City Council’s Urban Environment Authority, and aims at environmental improvement in the centre of Oslo. The programme sets out to make certain areas of the centre car-free, so that the city becomes more accessible to pedestrians, cyclists and the disabled. Another important target is to create meeting places in the city and to activate hidden urban spaces. The programme intends to support necessary city logistics and to strengthen public transport, while prioritizing street life and ‘soft traffic’ over private motor transport.

Migrant Car Photo: Niklas Hart /Hartwork
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