Art & Awareness

Theaimofthisweek-longeventwasto engageawiderangeofpeoplewiththe culturalenrichmentthatarthastooffer throughoneanchoringsubjectofBirds / Sparrow. At the same time, Art & Awareness aimed to raise awareness among a broad audience about the relevant contemporary natural issues We took an opportunity to appreciate the nature which this campus encapsulated and we have celebrated ‘World Sparrow Day’. World Sparrow Daywasaweeklongcelebrationofthis intriguing tiny bird which included activities like, ‘SPARROW’ , an exhibition of terracotta clay art, documentation of Birds, Sounds & Gestures, Art Installation workshop, clay Bird Making demonstration and Reading of a Sanskrit Text- birds of Panchatantra People were mesmerized by the terracotta work of Mahesh Vataliya an eminent artist and ceramicdesignerandalsotookseveral terracotta bird feeders manufactured byhim.Duringthetalk,documentation ofbirds byBhartiMalwi,severalraised questionsaboutthedryingofthemirror lake, further bird conservation requirements and possible contributions and involvement of the campus community in a social cause

Panchantantra was a storytelling session around the mentions of bird stories in the Sanskrit script Students explored the art of storytelling and awareness together. In collaboration with CCL we have also created a portraitofSalimAliwithpushpins;who is famously known as the bird of India onthis

ART@IITGN is probably the best thing that's happened at college this academic year. As a BTech student, I have seen my batch mates and juniors retreat into the atmosphere of Gloom and competition ever more serious about their career. ART@IITGN brought the atmosphere of light-heartedness at the institute. The joyful moments and wondrous events that happened during the last year had not happened before. The art festivals were probably the only ones in the college where competition was completely and absolutely replaced by collaboration. -

Ekansh Somani, Student, IITGN

I am have an amazing experience with all the activity which I have attended or participated. Specifically, I liked garba workshop and art festival. - Pavan

Adroja, PhD Scholar, IITGN

Arts at IITGN presented, and created a world class selection, cultivation and curation of all art forms encouraging students to explore their human skills beyond the technical to boost their appreciation of the arts and expanding their moral imagination - Brian Brophy, Scholar-in-Residence, IITGN

Art@IITGN assisted my research in theatre studies with their Studio space and outreach to the community. The theatre festival, workshops, and regular performances were quite encouraging to build a creative ecosystem and support local artists. - Rahul Bishnoi, Student, IITGN

Congratulations on completing one year of the Art Studio! Your dedication to fostering creativity and providing a space for students to explore their artistic talents is truly commendable. Thank you for being a source of inspiration and for contributing to the vibrant artistic community on campus.Kusum, Student, IITGN

The Art team at IIT Gandhinagar is incredibly talented and hardworking. I am happy to have volunteered for ART@IITGN. All the best for future events. Cheers! - Vannsh Jani, Btech Student, IITGN

ART@IITGN should continue its monthly activities. I learnt a lot of art forms which I didn't know earlier through these monthly sessions. It was fun and increased one's creativity. - Valli Divya , PhD Student, IITGN

Art and science are the wings of knowledge. - Srinivas Reddy, Visiting Faculty, IITGN

It has always been amazing. As a professional, there can be some food pop up shows. - Priyam Sharma Khanna, Clinical Dietitian, IITGN

I had lost the art side in me, since i began working. Art @ iitgn provided a space where I could explore many things and i could reconnect with the artist me. I might not be a regular participants of the programs, but i have started regularly doing my art. It makes me happy. -

I believe ART@IITGN has been and will be an important part of overall growth of our student community. It is an absolutely necessary component for students because it gives them a chance to simply explore and produce. It is important because it gives them a chance to fully immerse in activities without being worried about outcomes, unlike academic activities where everything is done with one eye on grades as well.

Various art workshops and exhibitions conducted by ART@IITGN have been very informative and refreshing for us (Me, Rohini, and Gowri). We especially appreciate the opportunity to know more about the processes that go into producing art as opposed to just seeing the finished works. It is also a wonderful experience to be able to talk to artists and know what they think. Gowri has also managed to learn and enjoy during various workshops and open sessions (clay modeling, sparrow workshop, painting, block printing, puppet making, music sessions). Our thanks to Jaison, Avani, Kanmani, Manasi, Anisha and many others who are making this happen at IITGN. We are eagerly looking forward to what you would come up with in the upcoming years!Balagopal,

Art observer

Murals on campus

Onseveraloccasions,alongwiththeactualprogram,ART@IITGNteamhasurgedtocreatean artistic mark on the campus walls with the Murals. During the first ever Art Festival in IIT Gandhinagar (IITGN), ‘Phad’inspired contemporary mural was painted inAB-7. Eminent artist Kalyan Joshi took the lead in painting that wall accompanied by the participants of the Phad paintingworkshop.TheFoundationProgram(FP)oftheNovember2022batchwasinvolvedin severalartworkslikemovements,cyanotypeprintingandblockprinting.AccompaniedbyArtist VikramChitaraawallinAB-7waspaintedwith'MataNiPachedi’stylepainting.Conceptualized by the curator under the theme ‘tree of life’, the wall was painted by students from FPand also from several passing by curious souls.ART@IITGN hosted its first ever visiting artist program andEminentartistSumanChoudurygracedourcampuswithhispresenceduringthemonthof March2023.AsArtist-on-campusatIITGN,hepaintedamuralhighlightingachapterfromIndian Science-History and he was assisted by Argha Manna, artist in residence at IITGN and other walk-in participants. During painting all these 3 murals, the community was encouraged to participateandgavethemhands-onexperiencetopaintthewallmural.

Heyyy Art@IITGN fam, I hope you're arting and breathing waves of air artistically. I left the place for months now, sadly, but what I miss the most is joying around the campus with colors, plates, posters and vibe! Art has changed my life, and you guys have made me devoted to art! Thank you for getting me out of the words, and thank you for bringing up something which I thought I would never be able to find within me. Love. Light. Peace. - Yug

Pandya, IITGN

Scientists and engineers need to be creative! What better way to train one's imagination and skills than to expose oneself to arts and try some out? IITGN offers many possibilities to enjoy art. It strikes a delicate balance between humility and enthusiasm. All those responsible for this program should be praised, the visionaries who put it in place as well as the steadfast participants who insure its sustainability. Long live ART@IITGN ! - Jean

Philippe, Visiting Scholar, IITGN

Wonderful and joyful experience with the collaborated activities. Looking forward for more such art experiences. - Nyasa,

IITGNt

I had the most enjoyable and enlightening exchanges at IITGN when I attended the Comics Conclave in January this year. It was a pleasure meeting and interacting with professors and students from different disciplines, both within the formal spaces of the conclave, as well as outside them - at chai sessions and meal times. The event organization was superb, and the self-evident enthusiasm of the student volunteers was special! Thank you all for the memorable days I got to spend in a lively and hospitable campus atmosphere! - Orijit Sen,

Graphic Artist

Art Spaces

“Yoursacredspaceiswhereyoucan find yourself again and again” and that’s what the Curator’s vision of enlarging different art forms in the campus has done Starting from utilizing the existing clay studio to creatingmorespaceslikeartstudio, exhibition hall, office & meeting space, ART@IITGN has flourished immensely in reaching out to the community to practice, learn and commune about various art forms. Apart from dedicated building spaces, other spaces like ‘Koodam’ and 'Open Space' have been activated for live theater and music performances Koodam is the patch of grass land behindAB 6 and open space is another garden space between central arcade and sports complex which has been active for public performances.Clay studio have been used by students and others in the campus at their convenience and we started bringing more ceramic and terracottaartiststohonetheirskills. Utility products like flower vase, mugs and trays are in production phase and glazed ceramic jewelry making is in experimental phase whichtheteamislookingforwardto as a great opportunity and palpable progress Community members using the art studio for creating personalized gifts and also to explore new mediums have tremendously increased in recent months. This motivates the team to bringinmorediversifiedartformsto campus for exploration. Apart from theartexploration,thespaceshave been put into use for academic purposes too. The Archaeology department is in discussion with ART@IITGN for creating models which replicates the artifacts from excavationsitesandalsotocuratea museum inside the campus. The Humanities and Social Science department wants to bring in an internship program to do research on the aspect of art in conservation and studying the native people and their culture. Design department has already collaborated with ART@IITGN for their classroom projects and is looking forward to curating more design and art based classes on a semester basis with a credit system Students from the mechanical engineering and other departments have taken the curator’s guidance for various project works. Palette club, Nyasa andCCLalsobeenusingthespaces for organizing various camps and groupartactivities

The observation in this one year journey is that we see a lot of scope for academics to collaborate with ART@IITGN and bring in more fruitful outcomes and that leads to the vision of having ‘ART LABS’ in ourcampus VisionofARTLABSare discussed in detail in further sections.

ART LABS - suggestive

Astheyear2022progressedfromJuly,anindependentspacerequirement for practicing various arts was also increasing and we observed that the community is having a scope to engage in different art spaces. Students havestartedgivingtheirfinalthesisandminiprojectsviautilizingdifferent artmediumstoo Artistsfromthecampusandoutsideregularlyinteracting withtheotherinstitutionsrequireartspacestoengageandwork.Hencewe are envisioning more active spaces relevant to the art form and named combinedly as ‘ARTLAB’.Theenvisionedspacesare,

• Visualartstudio

• Musicstudio

• Performingartstudio

• Workingstudiospace

• Ceramic/Claystudio

• Textilestudio

• Photography&filmmakingstudio

• Exhibitionhall

• Artgallery(Shop/artcafé)

• Storage of art works and materials - dedicated spaces with light and temperaturecontrol

ARTLABwillserveasacreativeworkingspacewithallpossiblematerials, tools, & equipment. It is envisioned to be used for prototype and actual model/prototype making, product designing, skill teaching and interdisciplinary experimentations. The vision of having ART LAB will facilitate all the academic departments to conduct their studies and research efficiently. Ground work documentation, editing and creating videoinformation,alternatewaysfordepictingtheirwork,hands-onmodel makingexperience,traininginsoftskillslikepresentation&postermaking, in depth design concepts for engineering benefits and many more can be addedtothisvision.

Tangible/ Intangible outcomes

Creating a Product line / Merchandise through ART@IITGN was not part of the initial objective, but when the idea of possibility was envisaged the team didn’t shy away from taking the challenge. Starting from clay studio, various products like decorative wall hanging, pots, terracotta tray, flower vase,cups,andceramicornamentsare someamongthemany Postcardsfrom Graffiti overnight were almost walking the memory lane for many students The wall painting of several students duringGraffitiovernightwasprintedas postcards and kept for public access CoffeemugswiththeART@IITGNprint work are also available for sale An installation of handmade Poshina horseswasdonebyART@IITGNatthe Guest house The curation to installation was facilitated by the Art Curator and the team Apart from the horses,theguesthousealsostandsas aplacewherewallmuralsandotherart productsfromART@IITGNstands.