Jay Thakkar and Mansi Sathyanarayan speak at a conference at IGNCA

Jay Thakkar, Executive Director and Mansi Sathyanarayan , Senior Research Associate at Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC), CRDF, were invited to present a paper at the national seminar titled Bhartiya Shilp and Architecture at IGNCA, New Delhi on 15th December 2019. The three-day seminar was part of the Bharat Vidya Prayojana of IGNCA (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts) and it was organised in collaboration with GREHA (society for research on environmental development, habitat design and architecture). The sessions providing a platform for the interactions have been conceived under four broad themes: Vastu – Shilpa (Habitation and Human Condition), Gyaan – Shilpa (Human Health, Wellbeing, and Philosophy), Srishti – Shilpa (Settlement and Cosmic order) and Abhivyakti – Shilpa (Expression and Language). The paper presentation titled “Jivan Chakra: exploring narratives in vernacular furniture” revolved around the various indigenous stories and oral history associated with the vernacular furniture. It further gave a detailed insight into “Vernacular Furniture of North-West India” an international collaborative research project between the Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC), CRDF, Ahmedabad, India, and the South Asian Decorative Arts and Craft Collection Trust (SADACC), Norwich, UK. The project is being conducted in four parts: Phase I: Gujarat, Phase II: Rajasthan, and Phase III: Punjab and IV: Haryana. The presentation was structured into seven stages. These were in line with six (plus one) stages of life - Jannma (Birth), Brahmacharya (Student), Grihastha (Householder), Sannyasa (Asceticism), Mrutyu (Death) and finally Punarbhava (ReBirth), according to the scriptures. Beginning in the reverse order - from Mrutyu to the  Jannma followed by Punarbhava the presentation weaved seven narratives associated with the vernacular furniture from Gujarat to Haryana. Along with the experiential oral narratives, the presentation interweaved a larger overview of the project like methodology, categories, need for the research, overall impact and various methods of dissemination and its relevance within the design fraternity.