About W-11

W-11 tram is about... (the short trip version)

an art of journeys
travelling the Melbourne City Circle tram route
4.30 - 9.30pm Fridays during summer 2006/07
free entry...no bookings...all welcome

W-11 TRAM is a collaborative art project exploring dialogue, performance and hospitality through providing conditions for the experience of journeys. With its sides bearing the words in Urdu and English: ‘piyar zindagi hai / love is life’, the W-11 TRAM creates a dynamic and mobile public space with a disarmingly warm atmosphere. The project, involving collaboration with Pakistani vehicle decorators, was one of the most celebrated offerings of the cultural festival of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.

'connectry'

In the streets of Karachi there is a fleet of exceptionally vibrant mini-buses plying their route. They are covered with decorative display, a dance of colour, lighting and reflection. Words on the side of one such mini-bus read in Urdu and English: ‘piyar zindagi hai / love is life’. These words can now be found on the side of one particular Melbourne tram. The name of this route is W-11. Take it as a starting point for travel.

view project archive

W-11 TRAM was first commissioned by Festival Melbourne2006, the cultural festival of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. Over 12 days W-11 TRAM circled the city 120 times, carried over 80,000 people and gave out 20,000 souvenir artwork tickets: "a brilliant success” according to the Director of the Games. VIEW THE ARCHIVE and get a sense of the hoopla, the photos, the press reviews and over a hundred comments from passengers. No samosas left sorry.

credits

W-11 TRAM involves an ever growing list of amazing people who come aboard and offer more, including:

ONBOARD HOSTS: artists from Melbourne & Karachi including Mick Douglas, Khalid Jamil, Roberto D’Andrea, Imran Kurd, Salabat Khan, Pekoe
PHOTOGRAPHY: Karen Trist, Ceri Hann, Geoff Warburton, Wajid Ali, Ali Khan
MOBILE PHONE VIDEO EXPERIMENTS: Marsha Berry
PASSENGERS ONLINE MEDIA DATABASE DESIGN: Reuben Braithwaite
WEBSITE DISCUSSION CODING: Merideth Kirby
TRAM MAINTENANCE: Sophie Gurr
ADMINISTRATION: Jackie Johnstone

of communication

tramtactic: the action by tram.
Tramjatra: the journey by tram.
W-11 tram: the mixing up and making up.

What follows is a reflective conversation about the W-11 tram project inititated by Neal Haslem.