#22 Eye Candy
Keep quiet. It's a gallery.
Hello there,
Welcome to the holiday edition of Makeshift Mobility. Hope you had time to celebrate and time to get some rest. I debated not sending an issue but then I always get excited when you write me back or post a comment.
I was thrilled when Elizabeth sent me a short note after my last letter. She said:
Your newsletter has been a great source of personal and professional enlightenment for me in 2020. You have offered a way to expand my transportation knowledge (from the safety of my own home) - something normally gained from visiting a new place and using its formal and informal transport systems. My work these days is mostly in formal transportation in the US, but I find your newsletter useful and full of insights that expand my knowledge of transportation overall. Thanks for all your work over the last year, and I hope it continues into the future.
Thank you, Elizabeth! You don’t know how much you’ve encouraged me.
Also, you may not have noticed, but I’ve shifted my release day from Wednesdays to Sundays. Diana did, she said:
I like that you sent this on the weekend. I had time to digest it. What great companies you are talking to. I love the idea of a newsletter recapping conversations had over the week.
Thanks, Diana!
Btw, you should pick up a copy of Diana’s outstanding book, if you haven’t already. The New York Times says it’s “one of those invaluable books that offer a new, revelatory window on familiar problems.”
This week, let’s go visual with a sampling of art about informal transportation.
Like I said, Makeshift Mobility is very much a creature of popular imagination and culture. Here are a few of my favorites. Some are sweet, some are funny, some are gorgeous. You can even buy some of the artwork.
I like them because I like them.
No, I do not earn from any of the links or from the sales but do let me know if you decide to purchase any of the products or follow any of the artists.
A picture is worth a thousand words, they say.
Robert Alejandro from Manila, Philippines
I featured Robert’s art when I launched this newsletter. Robert is the in-house artist for papemelroti. You can hear more about their family story in this podcast.
Below are some pieces from his jeepney collection on Red Bubble.
(Note: the red KKK flag stands for the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (trans: Supreme and Venerable Society of the Children of the Nation), the secret society that fought for Philippine independence from the Spanish and American colonizations.)
Stephanie Chaves from San Jose, Costa Rica
Apinat “Mild” Thanawat from Bangkok, Thailand
Bae Wíu Lùm from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Akram William from Cairo, Egypt
Akram says:
This is a tribute to the chaos maker
the number one means of time blowing and saving
the one and only: The Microbus
Either you arrive in one piece, or none at all.
Mo Oyemade from Lagos, Nigeria
Kevin Shani from Nairobi, Kenya
Kevin says:
This series was a personal project aimed at increasing awareness for boda boda operators on the dangers they face on their daily hustle.
Of the particular illustration above, he says:
Every Morning, a boda boda driver steps into the unknown. The scarf symbolises the care his family gives to him, like a good luck charm.
Sharbel Mutugi from Nairobi, Kenya
Sharbel also has a Matatu Poster for Peace for the Matwana Matatu Culture Project. Matwana was founded “as a platform to change Kenyans and the World’s negative perception of how everyone viewed the Matatu Industry by engaging people through social media platforms and on ground interactive activities.”
That’s if for this week. And for this year.
I’ll catch you on the other side of the calendar flip. May we all prosper in 2021.
Till then, stay safe, be well.
I’m Benjie de la Peña and I wear many hats. I co-founded Agile City Partners, and I am the Chair of the Global Partnership for Informal Transportation. I’ll have a new hat soon. Expect a quick notice on the first Monday of January.
I believe makeshift mobility could be the single greatest lever to decarbonize the urban transport sector. But only if we stop ignoring it and instead learn to celebrate it so we can transform it.