Connecting, Creating, Curating
Roopantar
Presenting a new series of Mata ni Pachhedi paintings in conjunction with a collection of contemporary products.
A new series of Mata ni Pachhedi paintings in conjunction with a collection of contemporary products.
Exhibition, 2023
Venue : 47A Design Gallery, Mumbai
Team : Baro Market + Weft Foundation
India still contains a myriad of skills and processes involved in the manufacturing of goods of all kinds; call it art or craft.
Many of these processes have been documented and understood in detail. Very often great effort is spent by researchers in the pursuit of the ‘authentic’, of finding the real and pure forms of a process in order
to establish an origin and create the base line of a ‘tradition’.
In contrast, our interest in this exhibition is how so-called traditions move forward, deal with change and responds to the ‘new’, be it processes, materials or functionalities. We believe that the constant of ‘transformation’ is what keeps a skill alive and is the basis of sustaining the future of a “tradition”. This collection of products is a celebration of the necessity and willingness to transform.
This show celebrates the fundamental act involved in any creative design process; that of Transformation, Roopantar in Sanskrit, of changing materials through skills and processes and of shifting meanings and perceptions.
The main content of this exhibition is made up of a collection of contemporary Mata ni Pachhedis by master painter, Sanjay Chitara from Ahmedabad, that have been specially commissioned for the exhibition.
This is complimented by a diverse range of products from all over India and abroad reflecting contemporary thinking and engagement with traditional skills and materials. The materials used are mostly ‘base’ or recycled.
KAASH Partnerships
Foster engagement with leading artisan communities and design and cultural institutions in India and abroad to identify research gaps and training needs and promote the sharing of knowledge in the creative field.
Currently KAASH is liaising with the following institutions:
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NID, Ahmedabad.
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Museum Rietberg, Zurich
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Evoke, London.
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Africa – maker co-operatives and institutions? [ To be identified ]
KAASH People
Director
Sridhar Poddar
Board of Trustees
Prashant Prakash, Sridhar Poddar
Implementation:
Education
Arthur Duff
Design
Harsh Bhavsar
Outreach + Business Development
Manju S Rajan
Media and Operations Management
Keerthi Shastri
Execution
Mayank + Chandan + Ankit
Carpentry
Champa Lal
Electrician
Sonu
Housekeeping
Rajabapu
Driver
Manjuswami
Fellows
Research Associates
KAASH Knowledge platforms
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The Indian Sub-Continent
Identify existing knowledge hubs and resource centres across the country. Add significant and meaningful databases of experience and resources developed at KAASH.
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The Indo-African Project
The links between India and Africa are ancient, Particularly in the region of East Africa. Commerce and culture are intertwined to this day. This project focuses on making creative connections at the level of practice and institutions. Already connections have been made with potters in various parts of Africa.
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Asia and Beyond - KAASH Hub for Inter-Asia ResearchUnderstanding the extent to which materials and skills are interconnected across the region. Our long-term plan is to engage with creative challenges that can be addressed by collaborative teams of practitioners and scholars from multiple disciplines across the region.
KAASH is setting up several collaborations across Asia and beyond with a view to conducting collaborative research, joint development of Inter-Asia issues as well as offering residencies to skilled people from elsewhere. Compiling data-bases.
KAASH Products and Sales
A Business model is being drafted to manage the development of retail opportunities for the Foundation in order to generate income that will sustain the work being carried out.
KAASH Programme 2023
Now that KAASH is developing its own momentum it is appropriate to draft the following outline structure for KAASH over the next 5 years.
Activities
Identify the 5 projects – skills and materials– for the next 5 years that will be the focus of all KAASH’s activities:
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Leather: puppetry, light and footwear,
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Surface Art in transition – current residency
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Paper: forms of production and the Art of the Miniature to day
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Stone – and its many functional forms
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The Book
Each of these themes will be the umbrella for a specific agenda of research and development appropriate to the needs of the skill and materials. The outcome will be conference / seminar engaging the key artisans and stakeholders of that field. In addition will be an exhibition[s] displaying the outcome of the interaction with the skill, workshops and demonstrations, conference papers and publications, as well as a digital record of all that took place.
