As you walk down the lanes of Fort Kochi, under the green canopies near St Francis Church, you might have heard it. The clickety clack of a typewriter — sharp, striking clicks that cut through the busy street.
Teleport Typewriters, a public art installation by artist Zalman Farizy, is at the centre of this rhythmic sound. You can walk by and watch or even try your hand at the old keys. Zalman will provide a post card to type your letter.
Zalman started this venture in an attempt to have the past collide with the present. Near the Cochin Club, opposite the historic church, the artist arrives everyday with rows of typewriters.
“When the idea came to me, I wanted to present this inside a gallery at the Kochi Biennale. However, I also wanted people from different backgrounds to come and experience it. So, I decided on an open area, where both tourists and the people of Kochi can have a go at this relic,” he smiles.
Zalman got the idea of working with a typewriter due to a cherished memory. “My mother and my aunt used to wait for their husbands’ letters from the Gulf. At that time, it was an everyday ritual to visit the nearby post office. Teleport Typewriters is, in many ways, a letter back to that time.”
Letters play a crucial role in sharing the everyday struggles, daily joys, and hopes of the many, he says. “They act as a historic and emotional link between the migrants, their homelands and their loved ones. It is building a collective diasporic memory,” he explains.
For Zalman, this is actually a public engagement art. “Most of the participants do not have any prior experience of typewriting. So, one of the core activities involves teaching them the art of typewriting.
He shared a moving experience with a pregnant woman, one of his first vistors. “She told me that her letter is for her unborn child in her belly. The moment was so pure, and it is still the most heartwarming memory I have from this installation,” he says.
Zalman photographs every participant with a thermal print camera, and pastes it to the postcard.
“Writing postcards gives the participants a moment to pause. It is also, in a way, co-creating with the artist. Incorporating playfulness into the artwork deepens my connection with the participants and strengthens my practice.”
Zalman is creating a video project on the sidelines, by gathering conversations amid the typewriters. “I look forward to developing the project in the future,” he concludes.