ack in 2008, Brooklyn street artist Swoon built a fleet of boats out of discarded materials and scrap wood to travel down the Hudson River to a gallery show in New York City. The fleet then navigated the Adriatic Sea from Slovenia to Venice, to crash the 2009 Venice Biennale. This installation was a part of Swoon's project Swimming Cities — a diverse and evolving collaboration of artists, builders, filmmakers and visionaries who come together each year for a challenging large-scale project. After two successful trips: Swimming Cities Switchback Sea on the Hudson River in New York (2008) and Swimming Cities of Serenissima on the Adriatic Sea (2009), the project is coming to India this month as Swimming Cities The Ocean of Blood.

"In Swimming Cities' project on the Ganges River, we decided to float 400 miles to Varanasi. It took two years to build five new boats, ship them to India, and raise the money to do the trip. We still need money to complete the trip," says Porter Fox, a member.

Taking a new waterway each year, the project creates a community of artists by presenting an interactive environment that encompasses art, sculpture, music and performance. Each year the project builds new rafts using found materials in an organic design process.

The Ocean of Blood refers to the first incarnation of the goddess Kali, where she is depicted as a formless void, a primordial ocean from which the world was conceived. "The Ganges project is not coming to India on any political or humanitarian mission. We are coming to show people our art, experience the rich history and culture of the river and engage in cultural exchange with the people we meet. We are interested in the way people live on the river, not tourists or businesspeople who exploit them. More people survive directly off the Ganges than any river in the world," Fox said.

The boats for the Ganges are 19-feet long and 8-feet wide, so they can fit under floating bridges. Four of the boats are powered by motorcycles, so that the team can drive from the riverbank to town to buy water and supplies. The team in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh and will complete the tour in Varanasi.

"We arrive in Delhi on 22 September, where we will be for two days buying supplies. Then we will be at D.N.D.G. Art College in Farrukhabad for three weeks preparing the boats. We'll start floating down the river around 5 October and should arrive in Varanasi by 26 October. We wanted to end the trip in Varanasi, with a performance during Diwali, while Farrukhabad was a good starting spot as we wanted to be floating for three weeks," he says.

The fleet of small sculptural boats, which interlock to form a floating island platform, will be decorated and embellished by local artisans. Right now the boats are merely platforms that will be built enroute. "The boats will be made primarily from salvaged material we find on the river and that people donate. It's part of our aesthetic, reusing material to make it into something beautiful and new. At the end of the trip, the boats will be packed into a 40-foot container and shipped back to the US. We are still looking for a return shipper and help in getting the boats home," he concludes.

The show will be in Varanasi at the Ram Chhatpar Shilp Nyas from 7-12 November on a giant floating sculpture; they will also be showing at the Kriti Gallery there. Viewers can see the performance from the shores of the Ganges. Project details can be found at www.weareswimmingcities.org.