new delhi delhis vibrant art district in lodhi colony has now some new quirky residents a flying fish an owl on roller skates and a flamingo on a bicycle this colourful surrealistic menagerie has been imagined by two women a graphic novel artist from germany and an architectillustrator from india who joined hands to create a dazzling mural in the heart of the national capital the indogerman collaborative work titled fish out of water took two weeks besides depicting flora and fauna it draws its essence from the idea of travelling and experiencing a new culture as also travelling in ones mind to places that dont exist on a map aashti miller an architect by day and an illustrator by night said the idea of travelling in ones minds essentially happened during the pandemic when lockdown and new safety norms essentially meant there was no physical travelling the artwork also draws from that aspect of life mumbaibased miller 28 and greta von richthofen 33 who can also be dubbed as fellow travellers for this project given the theme of the artwork interacted with a group of select guests at the goetheinstitutmax mueller bhavan in delhi on wednesday evening after a curated walk in the lodhi art district where virtually every other wall has a mega mural anja riedeberger director information and library services goetheinstitut south asia said the mural in delhi and another one that the two artists will work together on in chennai are part of a larger project called graphic travelogues of the goetheinstitut the project focuses on the depiction of travel in comics and graphic novels and brings together artists from around the globe to create a digital platform focusing on the subject of travel and its evolution during the pandemic miller and greta in their artistic collaboration for the mural have also married the culture and sensibilities of the two countries with a surrealistic imagination the art is called fish out of water and there is actually a fish on the wall but it has wings and it is flying this depicts the experience of travelling out of a familiar place to a new culture and the element of surprise and unease one might feel but not in a negative way miller told pti also there is an indian owl on roller skates and a flamingo riding a bicycle and there is a flying whale too its a motley crew she said greta echoes her views and adds that as its an indogerman collaboration a german bird called blaumeiser has also been depicted in the mural but the work is an amalgamation of our efforts and a shared vision despite cultural and linguistic differences miller who did her masters degree in architecture from cornell university in 2017 and works for a usbased firm said the artwork was first conceived through sketches and was later translated into a mural but the final work is very different from what was conceived in the sketch