Pakhi

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA will facilitate research and creation of an interactive website featuring animated textile stories, put together from various textile related Issues from the archives of The Marg Foundation. This project is in collaboration with The Marg Foundation, Mumbai, Maharashtra. Established in 1946 by novelist Mulk Raj Anand, Marg is India’s oldest continuously published art magazine. At a time when India was forging a new identity for itself, Marg sought to enrich the exercise by documenting the varied cultural traditions of India and presenting new ways of thinking about the future of independent India. Today, Marg continues to document the lesser-known histories of India and create inroads towards a critical understanding of the plurality of Indian and South Asian cultural practices. Pakhi is the Project Coordinator for this project.

Pakhi is a visual artist and illustrator based out of Goa. Her practice has been centred on graphic storytelling and moving image, however recently she has made forays into interactive public art and collaborative film and installation projects. Pakhi has previously exhibited her work at the Serendipity Arts Festival and India Art Fair with GallerySKE. She has also worked beyond the conventional gallery space and has experience of working with community driven projects. She worked with Simurgh Centre, a centre for Afghan Refugees in Delhi, on an audio documentary detailing the lives of refugees during the lockdown, as well as led a children’s mural and workshop. She has also worked with animation and was an assistant director and animated If I Could Tell You, a documentary on the founders of the feminist movement among Delhi’s Deaf youth called #DeafWomentoo for a fellowship with Film South Asia. In addition, she worked as an illustrator and animator on a Western Ghats sound archives project titled Ears to the Ground: Sounds of Western Ghats. Pakhi has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Delhi and a Post Graduate diploma in Contemporary Art and Design from Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology. Given her larger artistic practice, interest in animation and work experience, Pakhi is best suited to be Project Coordinator for this Foundation Project of IFA. She will work with a coder and a web designer as collaborators for this project.

Looking at the various issues and stories related to textiles across the archives of The Marg Foundation, the Project Coordinator will narrativise them through animated textile patterns, creating an interactive and immersive storytelling experience. Marg Magazine over the years has contributed significantly towards the scholarship around textiles, giving prominence and a status to textile and studies of textile, and the artists within the larger artistic discourse. These stories, articles and essays, however remain accessible to the usual readership of Marg comprised mostly of academics and practitioners. This project seeks to unpack these rich narratives around textiles by selecting about 10 stories, focusing on specific textile styles and making the archives and its narratives accessible by translating them into an engaging whimsical digital format through dynamic and interactive animations. 

By using patterns and weaves as a narrative tool, the Project Coordinator seeks to devise a visually rich platform where the history, heritage, craftsmanship around the selected textiles are presented in an accessible manner to a global audience, particularly younger generations. The Archives and Museums programme seeks to energise and activate archival collections, making them spaces which facilitate knowledge production for public at large. This project corresponds to that vision in the way it promises to use the rich archival repository like the Marg and present the existing knowledge as an enhanced educational tool, providing users with insights into textile techniques, cultural contexts, and historical narratives. Through the interactive website, visitors will gain a deeper understanding of the stories behind the textiles, while the engaging animations will encourage further exploration. Additionally, to increase visibility for the project, the Project Coordinator will adapt the animations into shorter videos, reels, and social media clips. These bite-sized versions will be optimised for social media platforms, making the project shareable and encouraging conversations around the rich textile traditions of India while engaging a broader audience online.

Pakhi has divided the 15 months of project term into five phases. The first two months will be dedicated to extensive research, sifting through the Marg Archives to select the textile stories. Simultaneously, the Project Coordinator will curate the stories, create storyboards and plan for the technical requirements. In the second phase, Pakhi intends to start the animation production, prototype testing, feedback cycles, and finalising the narratives. The third phase will look into website development, animation integration, user testing, content finalisation, and design refinement. The fourth phase will be dedicated to final adjustments to the website, pre-launch checks, and content review. The website will be launched in the fifth  phase along with marketing, outreach and engagement through social media. 

The primary outcome of the project will be an interactive website with animated textile stories, along with short-form videos and social media clips. The Project Coordinator’s deliverables to IFA, along with the final reports will be 10 animated textile narratives, a user-friendly site, and content created for social media platforms. 

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.

This Project is made possible with support from Tata Trusts.