Kaavad is an art form native to Bassi in the Chittor district of Rajasthan. It is made of wood from the Neem tree and were traditionally painted using natural dyes. It is a portable shrine used for storytelling. Kaavad is made by the Kaavad makers who are essentially carpenters (Basayati suthars). Their customers are the storytellers (Kaavadiya Bhats or Ravs) of Marwar.
The totality of the traditional Kaavad is suffering and languishing as the original purpose of the Kaavad moves away from the traditional client and purpose. This connect between the Kaavad maker and the traditional purpose of the product is weakening and needs revival.
Keeping the key points in mind, as a part of our project we have designed an Indian-contemporary garment inspired from the storytelling and unfolding concept of Kaavad.
The project encompasses a detailed research on the craft and our proposed design solution.
The Research Book
The Design Solution
We took out some original motifs from Kavaad and used it to tell stories like of Hindu Goddesses and Gods. Through our design we brought the ‘unfolding’ element into place in which each layer of the garment would tell a significant part of the story and the audience has to unfold it all to know it.
Credits:
Book Design: Kurul Tyagi
Garment Design: Nisha Kilhor, Gayathri Nair, Annavi Padia
Photography: Kurul Tyagi
