What is? to What If? – Speculating through Design.
In 2006 Philips Design developed a series of dynamic garments as part of their ongoing SKIN exploration research into the area known as emotional sensing. The garment demonstrated how electronics can be incorporated into fabrics in order to show emotions and personality of the wearer. This was followed by the Electronic Tatoo Project in 2007, also on the idea […]
Spirituality and Design
My students asked me to write about ‘Spirituality and Design’. At first, I thought why have they chosen me? I am not Indian. I don’t have any of their spiritual practices or beliefs. But I took on this challenge of writing about this subject of spirituality and objects because it is a culturally diverse idea […]
Distorted Holy: Steps towards sexless fashion, inspired by the Libyan garment
Since ages humanity held the masculine group above the feminine group, providing them with all the joy of war and dominance and the positive space of society, whereas the negative space remained with the feminine sector bearing the responsibility to run the household chores. History never seized to highlight the male dominant society and this […]
Sounds of Silence (Corona Times)
Its 5am and I see the faint light of a pinkish dawn streaking across the sky. Under normal circumstances that is when most cities come alive, the newspaper vendors, milkmen, households that wake up to the clatter of pots and pans, alarm bells ringing to punctuate the beginning of a new day. Today, silence is […]
My Teacher – The Flat Tyre
Excited, happy, crazy, mad – that was me on being gifted my first scooter by my parents on my 15th birthday. It was more a necessity than a reward for doing well in my exams. My family had moved houses so now I lived about 10 km away from my school, which meant a driver […]
Fashion in the Times of COVID-19
As the global economy comes to terms with the corona virus outbreak, ‘social distancing’ has become a buzzword of these crazy times. Everywhere whether in the media, neighbors, friends, strangers everyone is quick to prescribe social distancing – deliberately increasing the physical space between people – is the best way citizens can help to ‘flatten […]
The Salt Ride: Cycle for the Environment
To the best of my memory and knowledge about the Salt March (also known as Dandi March, Salt Satyagraha) is limited only to what I had from my formative school days that Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) led the Dandi March. However, with time and age I got to know more like how Dandi March […]
Towards an Ethical Code in Photojournalism Practices
Photographer – Salik Ahmad – Captioned: 90-year-old Kajodi trudges home 400 km away amid coronavirus lockdown. Published in – https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-90-year-old-kajodi-trudges-home-400-km-away-amid-coronavirus-lockdown/349525 Many years ago, the Wanted Series initiated the dialogue on ethics in photography. A seminar was organised at Max Muller Bhavan Delhi in collaboration with Goa-Cap and Askar. Subsequently, the Goethe Institute at New Delhi […]
Why Social Sciences?
The humanities and social sciences constitute one of the earliest domains of knowledge. While disciplinary formations are a much modern phenomenon, the concerns which form the disciplinary bodies of the humanities and social sciences, such as history, political science, sociology, literature and economics, among others, were concerns which were considered as fundamental and foundational to […]
Future of Design Education within the Changing Cultural-Economy of India
Abstract – “This paper explores challenges and negotiations faced by Indian Design education as it is poised to locate itself within the changing cultural economy of India, and the wave of globalisation that is sweeping higher educational structures. Design education in India is struggling to meet multiple inadequacies brought about by changes in the global culture […]
