Enter the Chakraview: An Enchantment that has no way out

Chakraview has been designed by Sumant Jayakrishnan in collaboration three other creative artists from the country: Avinash Kumar, Hanif Kureshi and RutvaTrivedi.

Set on the coast of the Thames River, in London’s stately Somerset House, an inspiration of eastern design was disclosed. A creative installation exclusively Indian at its core value consist a name which commemorates a notion as old as time—that of the Chakra, or a basis of control, and a sign of progression and regeneration. The installation probes within the deep-seated hundred-year-old design industry of India. The Chakraview is sort of a march in installation that stuns you at the initial look with its burst of colors. It in so many ways echoes the chaos of the Indian sub-continent – a melting pot of culture and diversity. Embedded with stunning Jamdani and Ikat silks that are suspended from the roof, handmade-paintings, signs wrapped in spherical jewels studded in the wall and a dark, bling, reflective flooring which reflects the roof and the varied chakras on it.

The silk emerged from Aadyam, the tailor’s programme of the Aditya Birla Group, the flooring is sponsored by Jindal Steel, and the hand-made signage has been created by the street artists of Delhi, Hanif Kureshi  and Rutva Trivedi.

The another member that has creatively given to this artwork is Avinash Kumar who is a part of the  Audio-Visual Creative Agency BLOT from Delhi! His company Quicksand created a short film on the olden times of progress of Indian designs, which is even on the exhibit as an element of the Chakraview. “We collaborated with Hyderabad-based music producer Murthovik to design a sound installation that captures some key Indian design and craft philosophies accompanied by the ambiance of an Indian street to complement Hanif’s installation,” says Kumar.

The artwork thrives in visually showcasing how thoughts mark into utopian patterns in the words of Ciccolini, one of the curators of the Biennale. The origin of Designs in India, as an exercise separate from the art, took place as the consequences of Independence. As a consequence, India’s Design Plan is essentially correlated to a huge, active change—the brawl within the regional and the international, custom and fashion – but fundamentally connected to ideas of societal growth” reads Cicolini’s essay in the installation records. During this stage, the Chakraview installation depicts India’s design scenery flawlessly. One of the 37 installations on display as part of the ongoing London Design Biennale (LDB), the 800 sqftChakraview installation is India’s contribution to the fair. It explores the concept of ‘Utopia by Design,’ which is what the LDB 2016 is themed around. The entire project has been conceptualized by designer and scenographer, SumantJayakrishnan, and curated by RajshreePathy, founder of India Design Forum (IDF), a collective which has been promoting innovative design and thinking, ever since it was founded in 2012.

Spherical shapes, conventional cloth and early mythological legends stitched mutually an idea of the modern India in Chakraview. “India’s utopias articulate the intersections between ancient myth and modern design”, says curator Rajshree Pathy. “Like the seven chakras, our visions of utopia are simultaneously spiritual and progressive.” Pathy sought mythology to merge in with dialogue with modern design progress; with top scenographer Sumant Jayakrishnan, she investigates the linkage between India’s future and past, folk lore and truth. “Like More’s Utopia,” Pathy explains, “or installation is a narrative of India’s diverse religious, social and political journeys and a constantly metamorphosing churn of all the above”.

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Graphic :

Aniruddha Das