KOLKATA: A group of translators, writers, poets, photographers and teachers arrived from Berlin to explore Kolkata as a multi-lingual and multi-cultural city in action. This was the first event of the programme titled ‘City of Translators by TOLEDO — Translators for Cultural Exchange’ and Kolkata was their first destination. The event held in the city from November 6-12 was coordinated by translator Subrata Saha.Project director Aurelie Maurin said, “The project aims to see prominent literary metropolises as spaces of translation and to explore them. We read about the translation culture and diversity of the city in Sherry Simon’s ‘Cities in Translation’ and we wanted to get an insight into how translations work at the street level in the day-to-day interactions between different communities here.”CU English professor and translator Chinmoy Guha said, “This expedition is a giant step forward since there is a lack of awareness among us regarding ‘translation culture’.”In collaboration with Heritage Walk Calcutta (HWC), the team first visited the Old China Town area of Tiretta Bazaar and interacted with members of two generations of the Kolkata Cantonese community. For publisher Nikola Richter, College Street was inspiring, and the group visited Indian Coffee House and Putiram sweet shop.In Kidderpore, Know Your Neighbour (KYN) helped them come across a new language —Calcuttian. They were impressed that even rap songs have been made in it. Lake Gardens and Deshapriya Park were also on the itinerary.HWC founder Tathagata Neogi said, “It took six months to design the tour. It was not like other heritage walks, but based more on language and community interaction.”