Peace Taxi

Peace Taxi was a site-specific collaborative project. For this project, fourteen artists were selected to create artwork interventions in Toronto taxis. This project examined the relationship of private and public space that taxi drivers share with their customers as well as the potential risks they face from hate crimes after 9/11. The verbal exchange between a passenger and the driver in a taxi often only involves the conveyance of a destination. For my project, I wanted to push this relationship further by informing passengers of the driver's personal life by showing his wishes and dreams. I interviewed Bajwa, a Toronto taxi driver and taxi company owner. I created a shadow box and inserted a manipulated digital photograph and texts in the form of small licence plates that convey his wishes and dreams. This was placed behind the taxis front seat, facing the passenger. What the shadow box displays is an aspect of Bajwa's identity that exists beyond the information found on his taxi driver id card.