Gajjala Hamsa Sruthi

IR2035

Contemporising Indian Crafts

Traditional crafts are a heritage and knowledge of making that is passed down in families for generations. The journey of this studio was dealt with contemporising Indian crafts. From crafting stories to visually representing them various crafts were introduced and studied in the process. 
 With all the understanding and learning about crafts, an exhibition was curated and designed. The exhibition addresses the use and application of parametric design practice in the craft sector. It gives an introduction to parametric designing and explains how this method is helping to revive the crafts.
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After a brief research about narrative crafts, Phad paintings was chosen as a base for this assignment. The traditional narrative craft was studied in-depth focusing upon various issues like - origin, history, evolution, style, techniques, visual composition, craftspeople and most importantly the content (narrative and its method of representation). Later, the learnings were used to narrate an experience.

Tradition Matters is to know about the various traditional cuisines made during the festivals and its relationship to the family/community. The idea is to understand the culture through the lens of Cuisine. One of the peers (Pulkit) is taken as a case study and has been investigated about the rituals and processes associated with his cuisine. This was an attempt to record and present Indian culture to the larger public for not only its preservation but also for the future generations to relish these delicacies.

Crafting Stories is about developing and designing storybooks for children based on the life and practice of a craft-sector based designer (here Priyanka Narula). The idea is to develop educational content to foster and harness the value of craft and design among young children.

A glimpse into the storybook.

This exercise is about setting up a thematic exhibition on Indian craft objects in an urban landscape. From previous exercise research, Priyanka Narula’s works are taken as a starting point for theme development. Further, based on the theme, the exhibition is set up in one of the Metro stations in Hyderabad.

The Bamboo cluster

The Fabric-origami cluster

The Metal cluster

The Wood cluster

The Wicker cluster