kaval poem illustrated visually

The Red Frame Project- An Interactive Video Installation

This was an experimental project carried out in a city of Ahmedabad for the Ahmedabad International Arts Festival (AIAF) held on 29th-31st October 2010.

The concept was put forward by Hotelier and an art connoisseur Abhay Mangaldas.

We had put this RED frame at different places in the Ahmedabad city and installed two cameras on them capturing the life and events from opposite angles.

About the festival:

This year’s events build on universal ideas of togetherness using the broad thematic of Beauty. The underlying impetus is a desire for harmony and amity. On the occasion of Ahmedabad 600, AIAF celebrates the city, its rich vernacular architecture and its gracious cultural legacies, through the making, evocation, pursuit and celebration of Beauty.

(source: http://www.aiaf.in/downloads/aiaf_festival_calendar.pdf)

Link to the festival website is here: http://aiaf.in/index.html

Artist's note:

"We live in an aspirational society.People are driven by aspirationsmore than ever before.

One of them is to become worthy of being 'enframed' and idolised.

The ‘Red Frame Project’ observes how people respond to different iconic images within when it appears in their midst.

To many, it’ll be just a fun photo opportunity, which it is meant to be. To some, it may touch a chord.. trigger a thought! It also records how interactionsare subjective to the context and surrounding.

This is a project in ‘perpetuity’ and it will evolveas The Red Frame moves around Ahmedabad and perhaps elsewhere."

Please do write your comments and become a member the Facebook group ‘The Red Frame Project’.

This Film can be viewed here:

A Hunger:( for one's existence)

'अस्तित्वाची भूक'

Last year ended with my fiction film's shoot. My shooting took place at children's crematorium ground which is located just next to NID, on the banks of Sabarmati river. The story is inspired by one incidence told by my Aajoba (grandpa). The film questions the beliefs of human being who has closed himself in his set of rules and thus is giving more priority to the dead person's soul than a hungry living child. Just shooting part is over and next month I will start editing it. Last year I lost my Aajoba. But I will always follow his thoughts with me...I am dedicating this film to him. During conceptualisation of the script for the film, I wrote a poem. Here is the poem in my mother tounge"MARATHI"

Making Ahmedabad a World Heritage City

The Walled City of Ahmedabad has ingredients to be a successful Heritage city within a city.

What is needed is a visionary master plan and immediate implementation.

The good news is the thriving heritage of the city in the form of ‘pol houses’, and active preservation efforts happening at an individual level.

The bad news is that much is still in great danger of loss. The downright ugly news is that much has been lost already and is getting replaced by structures with minimal care for context.

Ahmedabad requires master plan regulation to direct its future development in healthy, contextually-sensitive ways to improve the city,
rather than tear it apart.

This film can be viewed here:

इवलेसे शब्द

There are always 'tiny little words' around us which come together to form meanings, to derive meanings and to mean that everything is so meaningless...