Open Elective 2011, NID, Ahmadabad

I was invited to teach at the NID Open Electives this January. It was great fun. A class of 13 students over a span of two weeks and 15 book structures. It was an enormous learning experience and the work that evolved through the course and the final presentation that the students put up was really inspiring.

Day One : Pamphlet bindings and Accordions.

Amrita working away at her books.

Within chaos, there is order. I promise.

Akanksha looking zonked!

There was actually time to take a morning heritage tour of the city one Sunday.

I am not a morning person. The walk began here and I do not remember what this picture is of.

The idea for the final presentation being fleshed out by the students.

A sign showing all the various steps for making paper at the Gandhi Ashram.

Not quite the vatman's shake, more like the vatman's hand-shake.


A sheet of muslin being laid on directly onto the mould before couching.

Delicious drying paper.

Pranav of CEPT demonstrating sheet forming. You can read more about Pranav's efforts here.

Yogita about to pull a sheet of paper.

One of the kakas watching over the progress. It was a pleasure to see all of the kakas of the printing lab get involved and enthusiastic about the bindings - especially the Long Stitch!

Some of the books on display.

Dilli Haat Design Intervention

In mid January, my friend Yasmin and I were asked to work with paper crafts people from Nepal and Bhutan and help them improve their existing products and develop new ones for an exhibition at the end of 10 days.
It was challenging and alot of fun. The women were an absolute blast to work with and I hope to fetch up with them in Nepal and Bhutan later this year and have a look at their paper units!
I've posted some pictures of the process and products here.

A woman from Bangladesh taught us the intricacies of Batik on cloth, which we then evolved to paper - this was something they'd never done themselves before - in Bangladesh and Nepal a few experiments had been carried out, but no final product had resulted. Hopefully this was a push in the right direction. A lot like Encaustic.

Explaining to Aruna of Jamarko, Nepal the pattern in which the lamp should be stamped. Aruna's and her sister started Jamarko years ago. They source Lokta paper from a village 6 hours from Kathmandu and make and sell products in their store as well as several other stores in and around Delhi.

A broad and deep block is needed for wood block printing with wax. They usually use Paraffin, but again -it is flammable when overheated, so it is best to have a mix of beeswax and paraffin. It's safer.

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One of the lamps I worked on for the final show.

The finished lamp.


A lamp made by the Bangladeshi Batik craftwoman as directed and design by Aruna from Nepal.

A long-stitch I taught Aruna using their batik Lokta paper.


Some blinds that were taught to the Bhutanese and Nepalese craftswomen by Yasmin.
The paper used was the batik Lokta paper which would look wonderful against the light.


The final exhbition!

Getting a book cover woven from one of the craftsmen.

His fingers moved so fast! And the colours were wonderful. Check back for the finished book.

Other Adventures

The last few weeks have been spent traveling. We've been from Ithaca - DC - NY - Boston - NY - Savannah, GA - Statesboro, GA - Atlanta - New Orleans - DC. Phew!

The beautiful location of Alicia and Jonah's wedding in Ithaca.

Camping in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The whole town smells like Chocolate. Not.

The H Street Festival. The Heaven and Hell Car.

I'm guessing the theme of this car was 'Hands'

I could be wrong...

Times Square. It was exhausting to look at.


I had the good fortune to be able to stay one night at Beatrice's amazing apartment. This was the view.


She had some amazing paper cuts all over her walls.

This one was tiny. It had been cut with scissors!


This one had been cut by one her friends in Japan.

Detail

Sigh...And so the southern leg of my journey begins.


The trees in Savannah are beautiful. They all have this amazing moss flowing down from their branches, like hair.
Gives them an eerie quality.

The squares are beautiful too and full of massive old Oaks.

The sunset at a beach was a dream...


A shadowmark by Dard Hunter at the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum at Atlanta.
A well-maintained and extensive collection.


The paper curtain caught my eye.

Detail.


The huge trees in the Big Easy.

Not too many pickpockets, or loose woman for that matter.

But alcohol, lots of alcohol.


And policemen on horses.

Old Journal

I finally found the time to take pictures of some of the pages from my old journal before it went to pieces...