A wide variety of beautiful textiles ranging from embroideried, woven, printed and painted comprise India’s rich textile heritage. For most of us, there is a familiarity with most of the textiles coming from all parts of India – like Banarasi, Baluchari, Chikankari, Kalamkari, Kanthas, Kanchivaram, Ikat etc. The skill of Indian weavers is... Continue Reading →
Sukol, Derrida and Solitude It’s been a year that Sukol took his life, and his dreams and ambitions with him. A year in which we discovered his desperation to belong to a society he believed in. A poor Santhal tribal dark complexioned boy in his late teens who stood at 5 feet height had been... Continue Reading →
Lord Ganesha or ‘Ganapati’ denoting the Lord of the Ganas, is also known as Ekadanta, Gajamukha, Lambodara. The eldest son of Lord Shiva and Parvati, he is considered the ‘manas’ or mind if Shiva is ‘atman’ or the soul. He is worshipped for his various qualities in the beginning of all religious rituals as he... Continue Reading →
This is part 1 of my History class posts - no, don't worry, I won't teach History 🙂 I'll just share with you my experiences of teaching History to a very, very futuristic AR, VI & AI oriented generation. To the less initiated, like I was at the beginning of these classes, AR is Augmented... Continue Reading →
In class, while teaching ‘Museum Management’ I wrote on the board some of the Indian cities I have visited for their Museums. It helped me map my journey from my birth place Jaipur (where I was born of a Museum connection) to other parts of India. This map connected me to the students who belonged... Continue Reading →
When the world already stands devastated with brutalities and horrors that human beings are wrecking upon other human beings, comes across the despicable crime towards a lovely, 8 year old child. Name, caste, community, religion, village, family, country or politics - nothing, absolutely nothing, should matter in the path of justice. The National Crime Records... Continue Reading →
#projectinterpret was kicked off on 1st January, 2018, by VarnikaDesigns. In the first 3 months, it has gathered its first few pilots and travelled back in time with them. Here's a quick recap below: 1st #projectinterpretpilot is Manju Ramanan, the Editor of the newly relauched Filmfare Middle East, Dubai. She visited Mumbai early this year... Continue Reading →
“You will need to have a dream and then explore all its dimensions and details and then refine the offering through an iterative process that blends imagination with action in the real world.” Design Thinker M P Ranjan, 2011 For Sandeep Sangaru, this dream began at Kashmir more than two decades back when he went... Continue Reading →
The #projectinterpret journey continues with exciting adventures and avid pilots of the project... the interpretation of history through objects figured high on the list! The fantastic 'India and the World' exhibition at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) (formerly Prince of Wales Museum of Western India) at Mumbai has finally closed. But, with its... Continue Reading →
Do you want to sense your existence, dance with the colours, laugh with the ripples, design the moment and live some more? In 2018, VarnikaDesigns launches #projectinterpret - a multi sensory, cultural, interactive space that attempts to seek ways to know ourselves, appreciate our histories and our people, and interpret ourselves in this extremely... Continue Reading →
