For the History of Design course for the Industrial Design students at the National Institute of Design, Vijayawada, we strapped ourselves tightly and zipped onto a roller coaster time travel... yeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh, like a virtual reality experience, especially customised for your personal choice π don't believe me??? then read on... One lazy... Continue Reading →
What makes Indian Textiles so exquisite?
A wide variety of beautiful textiles ranging from embroideried, woven, printed and painted comprise Indiaβs rich textile heritage. For most of us, there is a familiarity with most of the textiles coming from all parts of India β like Banarasi, Baluchari, Chikankari, Kalamkari, Kanthas, Kanchivaram, Ikat etc. The skill of Indian weavers is... Continue Reading →
#projectinterpretβs 3rd quarter
In the months of July - September, #projectinterpret explored new avenues of Access through live coverage of talks, apart from the usual heritage, history, museums, arts and culture visits, explorations, workshops and postings. Knowyourcity challenge: started on VarnikaDesigns Instagram and Facebook social media profiles in the last quarter, this game continued with insights across... Continue Reading →
Ganesha: the Elephant God
Lord Ganesha or βGanapatiβ 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 βmanasβ or mind if Shiva is βatmanβ or the soul. He is worshipped for his various qualities in the beginning of all religious rituals as he... Continue Reading →
Love, Pyaar, Amor @Bombay to Barcelona Library CafΓ©
The World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen 1995) declared that an inclusive society is a βsociety for all in which every individual, each with rights and responsibilities, has an active role to playβ. 13 years later, this definition was changed by the Expert Group Meeting on Promoting Social Integration, Helsinki, to: βAn inclusive society is... Continue Reading →
ArtEast articles: special issue on Museums
I am attaching 3 articles written for ArtEast, a contemporary art journal by the eminent artist Jogen Choudhary, as an extension of his initiative ArtEast. This special issue focuses on Museums. He was very keen to create an awareness on the dynamism in the Museum world, and its impact and need in India. I was... Continue Reading →
The world’s nest at Santiniketan
India's first Nobel Laureate, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore wrote in 1929: I was brought up in an atmosphere of aspiration, aspiration for the expansion of the human spirit. We in our home sought freedom of power in our language, freedom of imagination in our literature, freedom of soul in our religious creeds and that of mind... Continue Reading →
#projectinterpret’s 2nd quarter
In the 2nd quarter of #projectinterpret, apart from the guided tours some new initiatives have taken root. These are: Knowyourcity challenge: photographs are regularly uploaded on the VarnikaDesigns Instagram and Facebook accounts to quiz on some historical monuments/sites/buildings to help people connect to the architectural landmarks of a city. Most of us have passed these... Continue Reading →
Castella de Aguada – what’s that?
The Castella de Aguada is an actual place though it looks out of a children's adventure book. Popularly known as Bandra Fort. Has accentuated both reel-life, and real-life love lives for those who live life 'filmy'! In Bandra West, earlier probably known as Bandora. In Mumbai, earlier known as Bombay. History of it goes... Continue Reading →
Re – imagining Design: following M P Ranjan
M P Ranjan, India's foremost Design Thinker, said on 16 October 1997 at the AEP Bridge Semester, National Institute of Design: βDesign is a responsible and creative activity that aims to understand human needs and aspirations in order to generate effective alternate solutions that can resolve these needs. By its very nature the process of... Continue Reading →
