The Swimming Cities Is Off To India To Travel The Ganges

One of our all-time favorite projects, The Swimming Cities, is going to India to sail down The Ganges. This incredible floating artist collective includes all forms of creative minds (including the likes of Jux favorites Swoon, Imminent Disaster, and more) manning boats all the way to India for the Kumbh Mela festival, the largest human gathering on the planet. To help the Swimming Cities crew get to India, they will be hosting a Fundraiser Art Auction this Friday, March 5th in New York. Participating artists include: Swoon, Tom Beale, Imminent Disaster, Tod Seelie, Ben Mortimer, Ben Wolf, Ero, Andrew Poneros, Tony Bones, Jeff Stark, Isaac Aden, Ariel Campos, Greg Henderson, Doyle S Huge, Leslie Stern, Lopi LaRoe, Katelan Foisey, Iris Lasson, Spy, Sarah Atler, Matt Curtis, Petric Seeley, Zev David Deans, Elizabeth Bentley, Hannah Mishin, Orien McNeill, Ksenija, Angie Kang, Ben Devoe, Czak Tucker, Heather Jones, Noah Sparks, Porter Fox, Tim Treason, A’yen Tran, Dan Sabau, Virginia Reath, Clair Huntington, Kara Blossom, and Martina Mrongovious. They will be unveiling an 18′ x 8′ hand crafted stainless steel catamaran powered by a motorcycle driven paddle wheel, and help us raise money for the remaining four. To read more about Swimming Cities and the new Ocean of Blood Project in India.

Check it out HERE

About SWIMMING CITIES:

Swimming Cities is a diverse group of artists, builders, and performers who come together each year and embark on a challenging large-scale project. Originally united through the international artist Swoon, the group traces its roots to the DIY raft project on the Mississippi River, the “Miss Rockaway Armada.” Taking a new waterway each year our projects create a vivid community of artists floating into towns to present an interactive environment which encompasses art, sculpture, music and performance. The uncommon talents of our members interact in an organic design process in a unique form of living art. Our previous projects include The Swimming Cities Of Switchback Sea on the Hudson River for Deitch Projects and The Swimming Cities Of Serenissima across the Adriatic Sea for the Venice Biennale.

For the Swimming Cities upcoming project, they will construct a fleet of small sculptural river craft at the foothills of the Himalayas, in a cultural exchange with local South Asian artists and artisans. The hand-crafted boats will traverse the Ganges River from Kanpur to the holy city of Varanasi stopping at towns and villages along the way to meet locals and commission crafted embellishments for the boats in the local styles. Upon arrival in Varanasi the boats will merge together into a great floating island stage. In collaboration with local artists and musicians they will produce a performance inspired by their adventure and the immense cultural history of the Ganges.