Meaning, Metaphor - Handspun and Handwoven in the 21st century.

 I didn't expect to be treated to such a fantastic  textile display 75 kilometers away from where I live.

A display of handspun and handwoven fabrics and sarees first commissioned for Khadi - The fabric of Freedom which was curated by the late Marthand Singh.
The sarees, 108 of them, were designed and produced between 2000 - 01 and a 108 cotton hand spun and handwoven fabrics were woven at handloom centres across the country.
A major part of these 108 sarees and fabrics have been acquired by the Registry of Sarees, Bangalore.

 The collection held by the Registry of Sarees curated this show at the Lakshmi Mills in Coimbatore.

 I just loved the display.Looks like calligraphy to me.

Graffiti in the by-lanes of Fort Kochi

 While trying to locate one of the venues for the Kochi Muziris Biennale I walked down a by -lane expecting to find the gallery but I didn't, instead I found the rear walls of buildings painted with graffiti.   

 Graffiti is a great means to convey a social message. Creating awareness and sensitising people about the use and disposal of plastic which is choking our  waterways, land and oceans is a formidable task.   

 Love the layers and depth achieved in this work. The flimsy single use shopping bags which are silently killing sea life and animals. 

 Some were a tribute to the people of Kerala who bounced back from the devastating floods which wrecked havoc with peoples lives and property.

 This is my favourite. Artist unknown, would be nice to view more work by this artist.

 Guesswho is a graffiti artist who makes me smile.

My sister and I have started posting a picture a day. A picture of some significance to both of us.One picture taken in Hong Kong and another in India. We are on Instagram, do check it out. 852_and_91

Have a great week.

Kochi Muziris Biennale - 2

 Messages from the Atlantic Passage would count as one installation which I found very thought
provoking, hard hitting, shocking.

The slave trade was brutal and inhuman.

 I think it spoke to me more because I had seen the holding cells in Zanzibar where slaves captured on mainland Africa were held to be auctioned and shipped to the Americas. Cramped, dark, dingy and suffocating. A channel in the center of the cell was their toilet, cleaned when it was high tide.

The slave trade may have come to an end but as human beings we continue to exploit the poor and vulnerable. It's human trafficking that's talked about today, no different from the slave trade. 

What a pathetic lot we are.

First post of 2019 - The Kochi Muziris Biennale -1

Hello, my year has gotten off to a good start with a visit to the Kochi Muziris Biennale.

 The work of Shambhavi - Maati Maa (Earth Mother)

The use of agricultural impliments. 

The use of light to create interesting shadows.

 Spoke to the embroiderer in me.