GIF IT UP is an annual GIF - making competition for the most creative reuse of digitised cultural heritage material. It is run by Europeana in close cooperation with Digital Public Library of America, Digital NZ and Trove. In 2020, two new content partners joined the fun – Japan Search, a platform giving access to digitised material from cultural institutions across Japan, and DAG Museums in Kolkata.

From 1 – 31 October 2020, all GIF -­ makers, cultural heritage enthusiasts and lovers of the internet were invited to create brand new GIFs by remixing copyright-free and openly licensed material.

After my success at GIF IT UP India, the global event was an opportunity to push myself further and engage with collections from around the world at the same time.

Following the research, it was time to get into GIF - making!

GIMP is my favorite tool to edit the photos, frame by frame.
The video compilation is done in Blender with GIF conversion in ezGIF.

Here are my GIFs and the ideas behind them.

This image caught my eye due to the unique combination of human head and a pile of circular objects. These objects act as different levels for the body to move ahead, step by step. The little smoke element is then animated to show that it is released from the mouth and then vanishes into thin air. Overall, this GIF can be viewed like the character is working out by moving and then exhaling breath in the end. Other way to look at it is that the character is charging up by going down into the well and then releasing power when it comes up. Either way, this goes on and on.

The portrait of two sisters was really fascinating to look at as a painting. Even though there is a visual symmetry between them, both are so different from each other. For my GIF, I've shown them as having some sort of fun. Each frame is made by moving around the heads and rotating their ruff (neck wear), bit by bit. Thus creating an overall effect of ruff moving along with their rotating heads. This was really fun to create! :)

Performing acrobatics on the streets was a common phenomenon during colonial period in India which has been documented well in various Company Paintings. Of all the acrobatic pieces performed back then, this is one the few acts which is still performed today in India. Walking on a tightrope is no child's play but ironically most of these performers are kids who exhibit fantastic balance and perseverance on the rope. This GIF is a small tribute to them from my side, which is nothing compared to the dangers that they face during each performance. They do not allow any negative thoughts to faze them which is why I'm always in awe of their risk-taking effort.

Feel free to share and enjoy these GIFs from the following links:
Japanese Book Cover

My second GIF on Two Sisters was featured in the wrap-up of GIF IT UP 2020.

Find the other GIFs created in 2020 (and older) on the GIPHY Channel of GIF IT UP.

Hope you had a fun time with my GIFs here.

Thanks for stopping by! :)