Raga Ensemble mesmerises fashion lovers Models walk the ramp as malkauns and basant bahar herald designer collection.
Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara/DNA
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The cultural capital of Gujarat had a unique musical concert recently. Raga Ensemble turned out to be a fascinating and unique way of expressions where the classical ragas were rendered in visual forms through designer outfits, and not in the usual form of recitals. Chandrakant Golani, a city-based designer, converted the rendering of two classical ragas into visual forms through his outfit creations at the city based Abhivyakti Art gallery. The designer used ragas malkauns and basant bahar for interpretation of his designer collections.
Raga Ensamble, a creation inspired from the classical ragas, was an event of exploration of the Indian classical ragas through a live visual interpretation in the form of elegant embodiments. Models presented the designer collections on the ramp to the rendering of malkauns and basant bahar.Raag malkauns, primarily considered to be the raga of the worship of Lord Shiva, was presented through colours like black, blue and golden. The accessories like Rudraksh, damru and tattoos were used to make the effect of the raga alive. Basant bahar, the patron raga of the spring, was presented through bright colours like red, orange and turmeric. “This is a rare form of art where ragas are used in a visual form to present the designer outfits. Here the designs are not a form of glamour but it is a form of presenting the classical music. The creations have been based on the ragas malkauns and basant bahar. The collection includes shades colours and accessories representing the ragas,” said Golani.
In a specialty creation, an outfit created by Golani doesnt have a single stitch. Talking about the idea of the ragas being used for his creations, Golani said: “Being deeply interested in classical music and designs, I was keen to exploit the depth of the ragas by applying it for interpretation of my creations, hence this creation of designer collections.”Hundreds of fashion and music lovers were thrilled at the novel form of expression involving classical music and fashion at Abhivyakti art gallery.
Sharmishta Chawda, the organiser of the event, said: “This is for the first time in the state that the designer collections have been presented through classical ragas. The ragas are presented considering the colours, accessories, designs and time, typical to the ragas.”
At first glance, it is unclear whether the image at Vadodaras Kirti Mandir is a picture or a rangoli. No wonder then that about 50,000 people throng the annual exhibition. This year, the exhibition will feature internationally renowned artists of Swastik Rangoli Kalakar group and will run from October 25 to October 31.While the rangolis are usually as varied as portraits, still life, land- and seascapes and wildlife, this year the groups 15 rangolis celebrate children as part of the Bal nirogi varsha. The rangolis, which are roughly 6ft x 4ft are made on hardwood boards and are the results of as many as 80 hours of labour. To aid better viewing, the organisers are setting up a continuous platform about 5ft high, in addition to ensuring proper lighting for all the pictures. Most artists here have been involved with rangolis for a number of years, but have had no formal training in the art. “Rangoli takes practice and passion,” says Abhay Gadkari, who has been practicing the art for 35 years. He has also been invited twice - in 2002 and 2003 - to participate in the Diwali Festival of Lights organized by Asia New Zealand Foundation, run by the government of New Zealand. “Our group was established in 1985, when the traditional art form was on the verge of being forgotten in the concrete jungles. There were no signs that the younger generation wanted to keep the art alive, so six artists decided to work collectively and launched the Swastik Rangoli Kalakar Group, Baroda,” adds.The art demands practice, says Rajendra Dindorkar, secretary of the group. “I like to innovate in rangoli forms. This year, I have made a hanging rangoli using an acrylic sheet. The rangoli is a mirror image, and the actual image is visible in the sheet above it,” he says.“Tremendous concentration is required to make a rangoli picture. There is no scope for correction, because once the colour is filled in, there is no way of removing it. We take care not to whistle while we work!” said, Raju Chauhan, whose rangoli depicts a girl child welcoming Diwali.“The most unfortunate aspect of this art is that it is so temporary. There is no way to preserve it. Once the rangoli exhibition is over, the hard boards are removed and all the rangoli powder falls to floor in a multicoloured mound. A picture that takes hours to create is lost in seconds,” the artist said.
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