Ki Ayo? is a common greeting in Kutchi which translates to ‘How are you?’
Ki Ayo? is my grad project, which focuses on self-exploration through making. It tackles themes of migration, culture, language, appearance, and their power dynamics at play.
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This practice space is aimed at reconnecting with my Kutchi culture—finding new ways to engage with its dialect and traditions keeping today’s socio-cultural context in mind.
PROBLEM SPACE
This project is a response to the lack of representation of the visual communication styles of India in the academic discourse on design. Being a communication design major, I have only ever studied the communication strategies of those within a western, urban sphere. But what about those outside it?
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For Kutch—a region where every 10 kms the dialect and sub-cultures change— non-verbal / visual communication is a necessity. This was apparent to me when I returned to Kutch 3 years into my degree, and saw in front of me what I’d been trying to learn through countless design briefs, projects and essays. A visual language.
I had seen this scene many times before—nomadic Rabaris walking on the side of the highway in their brightly coloured, intricately embroidered attire with their tattooed, bejewelled camels—but now I had the tools and vocabulary to understand it. I understood that their Trajva tattoos marked belonging to a specific family, tribe or region, and that the motifs they embroidered reflected their mythology, rituals, and culture.
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This probed a deeper investigation into the term ‘design’ and why certain forms of making are excluded from this term. Why are certain forms of making placed on a pedestal, why are they all western-oriented ideologies, and why does my design curriculum reinforce it?
OBJECTIVES
Ki Ayo aims to re-center design as making. The emphasis on making serves as a form of resistance against the colonial legacies that have shaped design education and practice.
My main objective with this project was to actively seek out non-western perspectives on design to inform my work. To challenge academically accepted forms of design, and to also challenge my own notions of ‘good’ design.
The aim of this project is to bring you along on my journey as a designer, trying to find my voice in blending my design and curatorial practices together.
Visual reflections on identity and belonging through colour and texture.
My book Ariso is the culmination of my practice space. It explores the politics of identity markers such as language and dress. It is guided and supplemented by research essays, reflections and creative writing, all geared toward elaborating on Indian perspectives on design. Ariso means Mirror in Kutchi.
The book cover emulates traditional designs of Indian mirrors. It is embroidered onto fabric, giving the cover a textural quality. The colours red, green and gold—common colours of traditional Indian attire such as sarees— are used to represent renewal and divine blessings.
Umbrella themes of language and dress take on playful forms in risoprinted postcards, holographic stickers and stamps!
The postcards have different Kutchi and Gujarati words / phrases relating to girlhood and femininity. The focus on Indian textiles continues throughout all the design assets of this kit.
