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The art of everyday living
Two such installations called "The Light" and "the River' are what they are bringing to London as both backdrop and centre piece for the PRATHAM charity ball to be attended by 750 patrons and guests at the Old Billingsgate Market on September 28.
KAARU (Sanskrit) = one who acts, or gives form to action
The stunning art installations spanning the ceilings at Old Billingsgate Market were created for the event by the architectural and design organization KAARU. Based in New Delhi London and Tokyo, KAARU’s team of sculptors, painters, weavers, metalworkers and fine-art professionals lead by Sanjib Chatterjee and Anjalee Wakankar, integrate age-old art forms with contemporary design to create a new language that is at once universal and rooted in India. The wondrous design space they have created in and around this venue this evening bears testimony to their design approach which freely traverses the terrain between art and craft, architecture and design, the traditional and the contemporary.
KAARU worked together with craft masters, volunteers and literally thousands of children from the Read India programme to create two installations that reflect the astonishing human spirit that survives with joy in the face of some of the heaviest odds.
The Light
The Light is a giant paper chandelier, installed in the form of an inverted pyramid. It comprises 3,000 panels, using about 24,000 square feet of fire-retardant paper. The panels are suspended from tensioned cables from the ceiling of Billingsgate’s Grand Hall, and the installation is back-lit by a system of ceiling-mounted lights.
The paper began its journey from KAARU’s studio in Delhi in the form of blank workbooks that travelled to schools all over rural and urban India. When they were full of writing and drawings made by the schoolchildren, the books were collected by Read India volunteers and returned to KAARU. The books were then transformed into 3,000 2' x 4' paper screens, and intricately stenciled by artisans from Mathura and Alwar skilled in the ancient paper-cutting craft of Sanjhi.
The KAARU design studio devoted no less than 48000 man hours on pasting, spine-making, frame-building, fireproofing and cataloguing components for the installation.
After about a whole year of conceptualization and prototyping, the making process began in November 2006, and was completed in mid-August 2007. The installation then travelled by sea in a 40' x 40' container – and in some air shipments – and, once in the UK, took 10 days to pre-assemble in the warehouse and 24 hours to install on-site.
The River
The River is a dazzling tapestry rendered in hand-embroidered fabric. Entirely in monochromes of black-and-white, the installation spreads across 11,000 square feet of hand-stitched tie -dye patchwork, decorated with over 350,000 tiny mirrors and swatches of children’s clothing donated by Read India families.
The installation has 3 components- tie-dye patchwork with 350,000 hand-sewn mirrors, on which over 600 women artisans and 20 village coordinators from twelve villages traversing over 8000 kilometers across India (villages in Gujarat to West Bengal) worked using about 650 kms. of thread; central portion of the tapestry features a wave embroidered in the Kantha style from West Bengal on which skilled artisans from the villages worked using over 400 kilometres of thread for the embroideries. Finally, the fabric pieces from Pratham families from all over India (children’s clothing) was cut and sewn in an appliqué pattern involving the group of 10,000 tie-dye imprints , 7000 square feet of textiles and 5 months of labour. This installation is lit from underneath so the space below is covered with tiny points of light reflected from the mirrors.
The installation is lit from underneath so the space below is covered with tiny points of light reflected from the mirrors.
“What a pleasure it has been to admire the work of a team of artists using the past and present treasures of India for a better future.” |
