Urban Ephemera

Inspired by the Taipei Ephemera project which we did in Taiwan Reference (https://www.travelingcircusofurbanism.com/taipei/taipeiephemera/), we aim to create a temporal map installation that transcends spatial boundaries and delves into the heart of cities.

Our Urban Library (Ephemera) invites all WUF-12 participants to explore the ephemeral essence of urban life through a collage of memories, objects, and emotions. During this immersive event, participants will contribute their own ephemera—those fleeting, everyday artifacts that often go unnoticed. These could be plane tickets, street food wrappers, postcards, or any other collectible memorabilia. By assembling these fragments, we’ll collectively weave a subjective tapestry of the city—a City that exists not only in physical streets but also in our hearts and imaginations. Guided by two fundamental questions—“What makes City-a City?” and “Where (or what element) makes you feel at home in your city?”—participants will cut, pile, connect, and embellish ephemera.

Through this creative process, we’ll celebrate the transient beauty of urban life, capturing moments that define City’s soul.

We propose this as we transform the Urban Library into a space of shared narratives, where the mundane becomes extraordinary, and the ephemeral leaves an indelible mark.

What Is Urban Ephemera?
Urban ephemera encompasses those fleeting, everyday objects that weave the fabric of our cities—the crumpled metro ticket, a boarding pass from the last trip, the handwritten note left on a café table or the faded concert flyer etc.
These seemingly insignificant artefacts carry memories, emotions, and stories.
They are the whispers of urban existence—the moments that define a city’s soul.

Our Vision:
to create a temporal map installation: "The Urban Ephemera", which will engage with all World Urban Forum participants as they can contribute to their own ephemera.

These could be:
Plane Tickets: The journey that brought them here.
Street Food Wrappers: The taste of a bustling market.
Postcards: Sentiments captured in ink.
Collectible Memorabilia: Tokens of personal significance, visiting cards, flyers, carry bag from their own country/city etc or anything which they would like to paster in collective map which we will produce in the event.

Through this collaborative process, we’ll weave a subjective tapestry—a mosaic of memories, emotions, and cultural fragments. Each participant becomes an artist, cutting, piling, connecting, and embellishing ephemera. Together, we celebrate the transient beauty of urban life—the fleeting encounters, the hidden corners, the serendipitous moments.