Journey led through stories

A JOURNEY LED BY DIFFERENT STORIES ................by Chinmayee Parikh

REIMAGINING THE VERNACULAR Tutor- Jay Thakkar Ta - Kamna Vyas LEVEL 2| Faculty Of Design Spring Sem 2020

01 02 GUNDYALI VISIT

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This portfolio is to preferred to be seen in a PDF viewer on full screen for better transitions Chinmayee Parikh |

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ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY EMULATION & ILLUSTRATOR STUDY STORY BOOK

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STORY BOOK DESIGN Brief

This exercise largely focused on developing narratives from the collected information and formulating it in a storybook by adding visuals and illustrations.

In the process it helped in developing the basics of ethnography.

Medium used

Mix media- Digital + sketches -Water color illustrations

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KNOWING NIKITA After interrogating her and speaking to her in different aspects of her journey till now, I illustrated a few of the incidents for me to choose the right one for the storybook

ACHIEVEMENTS “ FAMILYCHILD-HOOD ??

SCHOOL LIFE ROAD TRIPS FUNNIEST MOMENTS !! FRIENDS HABBITS ?? TEENAGE HOBBIES

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PATIENT

MULTI TASKING INTROVERT

CARING Chinmayee Parikh |

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KIND

INDEPENDENT

PERFECTIONIST

I thanked her by gifting a book full of photos and illustration which had her attached memories .

SCRAP BOOK FOR NIKITA

PROCESS Linking Stories Imagining And Exaggerating The Situations Making Characters & Hand Made Sketches Adding Watercolors

WIP

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FINAL OUTCOMESTORY BOOK Outline of the story

The story is based upon Nikita’s experience in her Boarding school in the Valley. Each chapter Concludes with the values she had learnt while describing different experiences .

llustrations are inspired from Quentin Blake -His Illustrations are exaggerated in nature -Essence of the story is gained by focusing on the characters and elements.

The challenge is the convey it without illustrating contexts of the spaces.

Jacket Of The Story Book

LEARNING AND SKILLS DEVELOPED T

Introductory Pages

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CHAPTER- 1 FROM THE STORY BOOK

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CHAPTER-2 FROM THE STORY BOOK

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HANDS-ON MNP WORKSHOP RESEACH AND ANALYSIS EMULATION OF CRAFT DEVELOPING TIMELINE VISUAL NARRATIVE

02.

CONTEMPORISING INDIAN CRAFTS As far as I have understood Indian crafts, They have a Peculiar style, language and a distinctive methodology of its making. Each craft has a strong origin and context which has lead to development of Set of visual narratives.

-Understanding and using crafts have helped in developing a complete set of narratives considering different aspects like the context, usage of motifs, layers of detailing along with Establishing a language & style.

Medium used -Mix media

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MATA NI PACHEDI WORKSHOP An introduction to Indian Crafts

One day workshop held by master craftsmen Vasant Chitara and his family @Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Peacocks motif in Mata ni Pachedi

MNP emerged as an outcome of having them as backdrops for Moving temples.

Goddesses are he main focus along with animals, trees, birds and flowers as Important elements of the craft

After Boiling And Washing The Cloth _Final Outcome

-Intricate details -Borders are an important feature.

The elements are generally double lined outlines.

-Black and red are the two colors used the most.

-The narratives involve a lot of Imagination and mythological Stories to develop the paintings .

Chinmayee Parikh |

PROCESS 10

Peacocks enjoying the monsoon

RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS ON PICHWAI PAINTINGS

EVOLUTION

Analysis on pichwai paintings -Pichwaii paintings originate from Rajasthan.

-The stories are based on Krishna and Nathdwara goddess.

-They are generally Central focus and overall has Intricate details

FEATURES

TECHNIQUES

-Contexts are important.

Depicting the mood, setting, season and time of the Illustrations are the key for developing a pichwaii.

MATERIALS

-Bright colors are used.

Shading is done to show realism.

PROCESSESS

-Borders are heavy and thick, playing a major role in framing the painting.

Materials used-

Watercolors, canvas.

METHODOLOGY

CHARACTERISTIC

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EMULATION

Understanding the craft by emulation

Emulation helped in understanding the craft better by figuring out the -Right scale and proportions of the elements -Patterns and details -Overlay of layers of Ornamentation -Using color pallets

Emulated painting of the original painting Chinmayee Parikh |

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Original painting

Colour Pallette

TIMELINE OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIO JOURNEY- THE MAKING

The narrative is depicting my journey in the previous studio. It dealt with furniture design. The emphasis in the narrative is on the experiences, learning and process of making a chair. Just like pichwais, I have shown architectural elements in elevations and the open spaces in plan to show activities. The context here is SID, Cept. I have tried to show multiple set of activities in sequence to show the process of making a chair by setting up a context around it. Also focusing the at the centre Similarly, the border is made prominent and with using a motif relatable to the studio.

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MY JOURNEY OF MAKING THE CHAIR

Making is realising, a learning from the past semester Chinmayee Parikh |

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VISIT TO GUNDIYALI Journey Of Understanding The Village Through my lens and diary.

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ABOUT GUNDYALI, Gundyali is a small village located 7.5 kms away from Mandvi, one of the known ports on the coastal region of Kutch, Gujarat.

Gundyali is more than 450 years old and has various communities like the Kumbhars, Sumrahs, Vagris, Mochis..

Kumbhars are the Largest Muslim community residing there, commonly known as the Kumbhar Fadyu.

With more than 70 kumbhar families.

Contextual Map Of Gundyali Village

Various products like the matlas, plates, Gullakhs, Tiny pots, toys, contemporary products like dishes, napkin stands, bottles and bird houses are known products form the village. Patterns done on these products make them distinctive of Gundyali.

Marking the Kumbhar Fadyu Chinmayee Parikh |

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On Site Sketches While Exploring The Village

Since, the exercise was majorly about cartography, this map was made to understand elements important for making landmarks while making maps. Map from Alibhai’s home to Ahmed Muhmad Bhai’s home.

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Knowing The Families Of Kumbhar Fadyu

The 6 kumbhar Families we studied.

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KNOWING SULEMANBHAI DAUD’S FAMILY Sulemanbhai Daud Kumbhar is one of the most experienced and respected kumbhars of Gundiyali. They are a family of 6 who live together in their 10 years old renovated home.

Their home is designed in a way that it has Sufficient space for making the matlas.

All the 4 members play an integral role in the process of making and earning a living. Each of them is expert in whatever they do.

The matlas stand out for themselves in the market Because of its sizes, quality and the designs on the matlas.

FAMILY TREE

Sulemanbhai

Jullubai (wife)

Salim bhai (son)

Jamila ben (wife)

Interactions over chaii and drawings with adults as well as kids Sahit bhai (son)

Bilkis (daughter)

Panoramic view of Suleman bhai’s home

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SULEMAN BHAI, himself MASTER-craftsmen Expert in making Matlas

JULLU BAI,

WIFE OF SULEMAN BHAI She is a MASTER-ARTISAN EXPERT IN PAINTING AND PATTERNS. Chinmayee Parikh |

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SALIMBHAI.

SULEMAN BHAI’S SON

I learnt about the tools and instruments use for making matlas from him 21

Each person in the family has a particular place to sit, relax or work. I mapped them according to the time and place they use. Also it was interesting to see hoe they used every bit of the space including the rooftops and courtyard. this family can make more than 12 types of matlas. It was interesting the story Behind how they were named and made.

Jamila ben and I bonded over food. She explained the simple food they eat and what is their routine of having food.

JAMILA BEN. SALIMBHAI’S WIFE Chinmayee Parikh |

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THEMATIC AREA Identities and Individuality At Gundyali, especially in the Kumbhars community, At a macro level, All the families were very different and had their own IDENTITY in terms of the products they made. This product could identity from where it had belonged to. It defined their UNIQUENESS in the AREA OF EXPERTISE. Also, at a micro level, even in each family, every member had a bit to pitch in for Matti kaam. The work each member did reflected their area of expertise and individuality as an artisan and individual.

In the next exercise my thematic has laregly been as described above. I have tried to express it in the three different ways possible -the maps, board game and the graphic novel .

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FIELD TRIP CARTOGRAPHY NARRATIVE MAPPING

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NARRATIVE MAPPING BRIEF

-Based on the Field visit to Gundyali, two types of maps were made - Family maps -Contextual maps Both maps focus on conveying the indivisual identities of the families & members of the family.

Also the maps include elements of Gundyali to depict the context.

-Illustrations have a similar style like the pichwaii paintings

Medium used-Mix media Chinmayee Parikh |

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ABOUT THE MAPS FAMILY MAP

All The Members Of Suleman Bhai’s Family with all the work they do individually

-Shows area of expertise of individual members of Salim- Suleman Bhai’s family through the journey of making matla.

-The context of this map tries to show the setting of suleman bhai’s home and their lifestyle.

-The illustrations follow a language of the Pichwaii Paintings. Architectural Elements are shown in elevations and open working spaces in plans to show movement and activities happening.

5 Step process of making a matla

-The color palette is inspired from surrounding colors of Gundyali 1. Making CLAY

2. Basic shape on Potter wheel

3. Beating to make a matla

4. Color and Lining

5. Making Patterns

Color pallete 25

FAMILY MAP

“MATTI PAN AMARA PARIVAR NO HISSO CHE” - SULEMAN BHAI Chinmayee Parikh |

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ABOUT THE MAPS CONTEXT MAP -Largely shows an impression of the village.

Maps the different casts and communitites staying along. Also marks the architectural elements like the mosque, shops , banks, national highways and the contextual surroundings in the map.

-Distinctive marking of the 6 approached families, their bhattis and shows their area of expertise.

DIFFERENT PRODUCTS MADE AT GUNDYALI

Contemporary products like bottles, gullakhs, kodiyas, bird house, napkin holder and many more

Traditional products- Matlas & Plates with different patterns, sizes and shape

FAMILIES & THE PRODUCTS THEY ARE EXPERT IN MAKING

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CONTEXTUAL MAP

Earned identity- Pehchan

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BOARD GAME DESIGN POSTERS AND PACKAGING

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BOARD GAME DESIGN BRIEFS

-Have Created a board game for age 12+ based on people, their living, craft processes and business of Gundyali .

-The set of this Board game includes customised money, chips, cards and pons along with the its rule book.

-Poster and packaging are done as well.

Medium- Digital 29

POSTER ABOUT THE GAME ‘VEHPAR’ as the name suggests is a business oriented game Inspiration -Monoply game, This game deals with doing buisness in the hypotheticallyreal village Gundyali.

Overall the game focuses on the educating players with the process of making clay products along with the thrill of doing a business.

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PLAY BOARD - multi-directional and foldable 31

ALL ELEMENTS OF BOARD GAME Chinmayee Parikh |

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RULE BOOK

LEARNINGS -Taught to convert a concept to an interactive form -Making a rule book was challenging, taught to represent content to people through visuals

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BUILDING NARRATIVES DEVELOPING A GRAPIHIC STYLE

05.

GRAPHIC NOVEL BRIEF

The challege is to select an object/ product from gundyali narrating their experience or journey.

Medium used-Mix media 35

PROCESS

Graphic novels are highly visual and sequential in nature.

My process of thinking-

One needs to makes frames to even show movement in graphic novels. I thought about my whole story in the form of a movie and then tried capturing shots of the scene in my head, further translating it to illustrations.

ILLUSTRATION STYLE The style of illustrations I have used is grainy to show have the rawness of the setting and the character.

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GRAPHIC NOVEL ‘SAFAR’ a journey The forms of living keeps changing. This graphic novel is based upon a journey of one of the five elements of the living- earth, viz. matti.

Considering the protagonist’s morphologic nature, the novel is narrated in different forms (point of views).

The story deals with expressing all sorts of experiences in its journey of moving from rural to an urban setting. It relates all the happiness and sorrows by relating itself to a man’s life.

The journey is elaborated in 6 stages. Starting from Matti being identified by Suleman bhai, growing up spending its teenage years with the latter’s family, gaining an identity by their individuality, stepping out itself as an adult in the competitive world, earning a place for living, settling with the new family to setting out to where it belonged. It thanks all the other four elements of living- water, air, space and fire for being a constant in its journey.

Jacket Of The Story Book

Introductory Pages 37

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LEARNINGS -This exercise has taken me to rethink and imagine like a child.

-It has developed my narrative and story building skills.

Broadened my capacity to visualize and illustrate.

-It has developed an eye for creating and illustrating characters -It has taught me to see things from different point of views which intentionally led to make me consciously observe things around me.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would thank my faculty Jay sir and teaching assistant Kamna Vyas for constantly guiding and supporting me through my journey of learning this semester, also provide opportunities for attending hands on Mata ni pachedi Workshop and other Design Workshops like ADW during the semester . I would alos like to thank Radha & Bhargav for helping us out on the sitevisit to Gundyali and Dicrc for providing all the data of research in such a difficult time of pandemic.

My special thanks to the people of Gundyali for openly accepting me and sharing their stories with me.

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THANK YOU

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