Intangible Ahmedabad
The diversity of the Indian culture is evident to the whole world as India has one of the largest collections of songs, music, dance, theatre, folk traditions, performing arts, rites and rituals, languages, dialects, paintings and writing, that are known, as the, ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’.
My city, Ahmedabad, was inscribed as India’s 1st UNESCO World Heritage City in 2017. This motivated me to explore more about my City’s glorious culture and heritage. Bubbling with curiosity at the age of 8, I started putting my artistic talent to good use by drawing illustrations of heritage places in my city. Drawing the various heritage places while exploring them from length to breadth, interacting with local guides and learning the site’s architecture and bygone history, helped me to know more about the culture and heritage around me. This is how I started to take a keen interest on learning more about intangible and tangible heritage; by illustrating heritage places and donating my art proceeds for the welfare of cancer patients.
This digital artwork by me showcases the confluence of tangible and intangible culture of Ahmedabad. It depicts the mythological stories on the colourful wooden brackets of Kalupur Swaminarayan Temple, which are some of the finest examples of Hindu architecture in Ahmedabad. Stunning embroidery on a typical hand- dyed cotton cloth is also an integral part of Ahmedabad’s cultural identity. Needle work such as bead work and applique are important elements which women living in pols string their passion for. Elegant images of flowers, divine figures, animals, and birds are included in traditional embroidery and bead work for making ‘torans’ and ‘chakdas’, which were suspended over main entrances for decorative purposes and to attract positive energies. This digital illustration won the ‘Honourable Mention’ at Lidice, International Children’s Exhibition of Fine Arts supported by Ministry of Culture of Czech Republic, and Czech Commission for UNESCO.
Illustration taken from my 4th book, ‘Intangible Ahmedabad’ which is forwarded and patronage by UNESCO published in UNESCO Digital Library.
