Pearl Academy unleashed a spool of creative energies in its second year as design partner of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, the country’s prestigious art and cultural event in Mumbai.
In a creative blend of imagination and talent, students encouraged a dialogue around the environment and sustainable practices through their art installation Cosmic Coalesce and recycling project Junk Genie, which created magic out of junk. The recycled products, a huge hit with the audience, were sold at the venue and the proceeds will go to St. Catherine of Sienna Orphanage and School of Bandra West. In a display of infectious joie de vivre, Pearlites also painted live on a large blank canvas at the venue.
India’s largest private institution for design, fashion and creative business, Pearl Academy believes in creativity beyond borders. Students collected unwanted or broken articles from households and worked with their faculty at Pearl Academy to creatively transform them into planters, key-chains, wall-clocks, decorative lights, colorful baskets, wind chimes, wall-hangings, recycled tyre seats, candles, etc.
On encouraging the spirit of Remake, Reuse, Reassemble and Recombine, Virat Bapat, faculty mentor for Creating Magic Out of Junk initiative said, “We reoriented common junk in interesting ways to create functional lifestyle accessory items, conceptualized and executed by the students themselves. The students are working towards a good cause and they have learnt a lot in the process.”
Shradha Vidulkar, student at Pearl Academy shared, “This has been an amazing learning curve for me. The faculty helped us practice some basic concepts of design, which made the product beautiful and also added to its utility.”
The Cosmic Coalesce, symbolizing creativity beyond borders, is composed of 16 metal frames, with illusory layers of embroidered fabric, lit up at the center for a celestial glow. It’s a vision of cosmic oneness, with arching branches and trees, created using hand embroidery, appliqué work, weaving and burnt-out print techniques, resulting in a synthesis of depth and color.
The metal frames are divided into four layers with four specific walls. Fabric is stretched on all 16 frames, each serving as one side of a vertically oriented cuboid. There are four such cuboids inside each other. Explaining the concept, Ruchita Verma, Director, Pearl Academy Mumbai said, “India is associated with gorgeous fabrics, which are spread across states and societies. According to Indian tradition, all parts belong to a whole, and must ultimately return to it. What better way to depict this than through the Cosmic Coalesce?”
She added, “It has been our endeavor at Pearl Academy to constantly mentor and nurture creativity of our students. An installation is a good way to challenge their creative intellect and have their creativity blossom.”
Painting live on a canvas at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival also gave Pearlites an expressive outlet to translate their emotions into powerful paintings. Sharing her experience, Krutika Shah, a communication design student at Pearl Academy said, “This has been an amazing learning experience for me. It has given me the freedom to experiment and express my creative streak. It was great fun to work on a concept like this.”
The artworks created by students of Pearl Academy were on display at the Kala
Ghoda 14th February Arts Festival till 2016. Pearlites work – Cosmic Coalesce, Junk Genie and Live Canvas painting which caught the attention of many were also covered by the leading national daily Hindustan Times. And here’s to the Pearl Academy’s Mumbai team who made it all possible.
Check out some more of their work here.
