More Wall Decoration

As I was leaving Sanjay's house I spotted some more wall decoration, the work looked familiar and Sanjay indicated that it was his own.The work had been commissioned for a celebration within the household.

The figures, in beautiul colours, process along the wall, playing musical instruments and dancing around a figure, shaded by an umbrella, on a horse. It is as if the figures in the Mata ni Pachedi have come alive from the cloth and run down the road.

The walls are covered with floral designs and the mandalas.

Interestingly the designs have incorporated printed tiles bearing images of the Hindu Gods including Vishnu and Rama.

I had read somewhere that residents has started placing ceramic tiles with images of their Gods on their boundary walls (at a strategic height) as a way of deterring people from urinating against their property.

An interesting solution to a design problem.

Walking to the Pol I noticed more wall decoration, Images of Ganesh appear almost burnt into the wall.

Wall decoration

Traveling around Ahmedabad I had seen this decoration on a boundary wall. Some wonderful drawing. Apparently the designs are drawn on the outside of the property when there is a wedding in the family. A great way of beautifying the space.

Something I had eaten yesterday really did not agree with me and I sadly missed the last evening meal with the LAB participants at the House of MG, I was sorry not to say goodbye, as they had all headed for flights back home in the early hours.

Leaving LOkesh's flat late this morning I noticed that the walls nearby were decorated with drawings as well. The designs are similar to Mandala, as seen in the yantra engravings and the Rangoli or Alpana designs drawn with rice flour.

These designs covered a wall some 100m long and included detailing on the capping and around small openings in the wall.

The designs included Paisley patterns, (the origins of this mark are in the print of the side of the hand in rice paste, often on the side of a building, to record the scale of a rice harvest) and the swastika, a symbol which has its Indian origins in the Indus Valley Civilizations of Ancient India.

Globally this symbol has become stigmatized for its association with Nazi Germany.

For many Hindus, Jains and Buddists the Swastika represents something very different;

"The word swastika came from the Sanskrit word svastika, meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and in particular a mark made on persons and things to denote good luck. It is composed of Su-meaning "good, well" and asti "to be" svasti thus means "well-being." The suffix -ka either forms a diminutive or intensifies the verbal meaning, and svastika might thus be translated literally as "that which is associated with well-being," corresponding to "lucky charm" or "thing that is auspicious."

The design is often placed at the threshold to a property for good luck and well being.

Ahmedabad City Museum

Ahmedabad City Museum is situated on the bank of the Subarmati River in the City of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is located across the road from the National Institute of Design and close to the Tagore Memorial Hall.

The building was designed by Corbusier in 1954. It is built around a central courtyard, similar to the design of the Havelis - the traditional buildings in the pols of the old city.

Built from brick and concrete the main gallery is accessed along a ramp from within the courtyard. To access the courtyard you must walk in under the raised building.

The internal spaces are dark and have little views to the outside and surrounding spaces. The building has a feel of being slightly fortified and inward looking.

The collection illustrates and celebrates the cities history and cultural heritage. As well as housing an historic collection of beautifully drawn maps of the city, architectural details, carvings, furniture and paintings, the museum displays examples of the metal, textile, paper and woodcrafts as well as the artefacts associated with the festivals and religons of the region.

Carved map of the old city.

As well as beautifully drawn and proportioned maps there are some wonderful line drawings, portraits of men from the different tribal groups within Gujarat.

Painted plaster details. The vivid colours were echoed in the painted paper manuscripts and religious hangings.

Block printed and appliqué textiles.

The clarity of the design and line caught my eye.

I liked the blocking of the patterns, the repeat and the limited range of colours.

'Paper cuts'; intricate religious images cut from sheets of paper with increadibly fine detail, along with stencils.

More paper in the form of a 5m high 3D model of the tomb of Hussain of Karabala, used for processions during the Muslim Festival of Muharram.

I was drawn to the graphic imagery of the Mata ni Pachedi - textile temple hangings produced by the once nomadic Waghari community. Intricate drawings on fabric which tell the story of the 'Mata' or mother-godess and were used form or to hang behind the focal point of a 'makeshift' shrine.

Snakes and Ladders!

Manuscripts with minature paintings of religious subjects.

Ahmedabad was a center of resistance to the British rule of India and to the Raj. Gandhi established his Ashram on the outskirts of Ahmedabad and it was here that he held meetings and planned his campaign of non violent resistance to the British. The museum houses objects and printed material related to the Indian struggle for independence.

A cast, fabricated and raised brass Dowry Chest approximately 1metre 10cm High. These were given as gifts at a couple wedding and used to store jewellery and clothes.

Ahmedabad is famous for its metalwork and large water vessels.

A carved sacred cow and a Lingam and Yoni used for worship and veneration in Hindu temples.

There were examples of the bench seats with flip over backs

and some interesting coat hooks which once furnished homes in the city.

The building also houses the Kite Museum.

The courtyard contains sculpture and an example of a 'Chabutro': a bird feeder.

At the entrance to the museum the guards stool made re-use of a cycle tyre.

An Ambassador car, now an increasingly rare sight on Indian roads, stood outside the museum.