Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar organising International Design Week -2 in collaboration with Willem de Kooning Academy for Fine Arts and Design (WdKA), Rotterdam, Netherlands.
City Air News photo: Amit Anand
Jalandhar, September 23, 2013: Apeejay College of Fine Arts, Jalandhar has organised International Design Week -2 in collaboration with Willem de Kooning Academy for Fine Arts and Design (WdKA), Rotterdam, Netherlands. Design Week-2 centred on the theme of “Cultural Transformation through Design” commenced today with an elaborate ceremonial start. It will showcase how design has played a pivotal role in changing the Indian culture and in affecting Indian sensibilities and Indian aesthetics over the years.
Prof Maarten Regouin, Former President, European League of Institute of Art (ELIA) is the chairperson and mentor of the Design Week. He is accompanied by a team of very talented faculty from the WdKA, Rotterdam, Netherlands which comprise renowned graphic designer, Prof. Renate Boere; Artistic Director and Designer Bas Kortmann; and Didactician Prof. Paul Pos. Dr Sucharita, the principal of the college and the director of the workshop welcomed the Dutch design experts and said that the Indo-Dutch fusion will definitely take art into newer directions. Addressing the audience, Kamna Raj Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Apeejay Education Society said that Indians should be moored to their rich Indian roots while exploring the new in other cultures.
Prof Maarten in his inaugural speech acquainted the gathering with the guidelines for the Design Week 2. He explained that culture denotes the images, notions and values shared by many. The most significant feature of culture according to him is that it determines human behaviour in that society. He informed that Prof. Paul Pos would be coordinating the nine groups of the Design Week 2 with the nine groups in Rotterdam and together they would be working on a weblog.
Architect Rajni Kumar, Assist. Prof. in the Department of Design in Apeejay College of Fine Arts gave a presentation on the topic “Architectural Transformation: Design adjusts to the age of changing culture”.
The 330 student participants have been divided into 27 groups, each focusing on one of the sub topics like Minimalism, Colour Narrative, Advancement, Identity Crisis, the Treasure Trove, Changing Scenario of Indian Cinema, Silence that Speaks and Unity in Diversity. These groups will be mentored by the Dutch and Indian design experts. The workshop will exhibit the relationship between cultural values and vernacular designs and the feasibility of these designs in contemporary scenario.
To mark the International Design Week 2 the students from the Department of Design, Applied Art and Multimedia have created some exhibits that are on display in the College Art Gallery. Some of the creations by the students of Interior Design that are on display are: The Sailing Mist (Couch designed on the theme of Kerala Racing boats); The Dancing Mudra (Chair designed in the shape of a posture taken from Bharatnatyam); The Royal Ecstasy ( Couch designed on Rajasthani theme inspired from their moustache); Kolkata Riders ( A designer sofa with awning based on the rickshaws of Kolkata); Contemporary Kantha ( A storage inspired from the Kantha embroidery of West Bengal) amongst many others.