Supporting Documentation (Relevant themes)

18th February 2022

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The Holi Festival

Background

Holi is a Hindu Festival, and is considered to be one of the most celebrated and well-known Indian festivals and is celebrated all over the country. It also sometimes called the “festival of love”, the “festival of colour” and the “Spring Festival” as it is celebrated by throwing coloured pigments in the air and is a day where people get to unite together, forgetting all resentments and bad feelings towards one another. The festival lasts for a day and a night, which starts in the evening of Purnima or the Full Moon Day in the month of Falgun which is March, and marks the beginning of spring, the season of hope and joy. It is celebrated with the name Holika Dahan or Choti Holi on the first evening of the festival and the following day is called Holi. However, it has different names around the country. In, Gujarat and Odisha (Formally Orissa), Holika Dahan is celebrated by lighting a bonfire on the eve of Holi to give greatness to Agni, the god of fire. The ash from the fires is considered sacred and they apply it to their foreheads to protect them from evil.

The vibrancy of the colours is something that brings a lot of positivity into their lives Holi is a day worth rejoicing. The ritual starts by lighting up the bonfire one day before the day of Holi and symbolizes the triumph of good over the bad. On the day of Holi people play with colours with their friends and families and in the evening, they show love and respect to their close ones. The pigments used are known as Gulal or Abir and in the preparations for the festival you will often see it throughout streets of India in large piles. The clothing worn on the day of Holi is usually very festive and white or light in colour so that the colours are more vibrant and stain them. The colours are thrown in different ways like powder, water balloons or pouring coloured water over each other.

The legends associated with Holi are often themed around death, evil, demons, mischief and good over evil usually being associated around Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna, Kamadeva, Shiva, and evil minded Hiranyakashyap, Holika, ogress Dhundi, Pootana and Kansa. The origins of Holi date back to hundreds of years before Christ but the meaning of the festival is believed to have changed over the years. It is thought to have originated from east India but you will find references to the festival all across india in places like, ancient temple paintings. The festival is also celebrated no matter what religion you are in India as it is about letting go of your differences and coming together.

The key themes noted form researching Holi is the symbolism and the way in which it is celebrated, specifically the joy the festival brings, the coming together of different religions and throwing of coloured pigments. I had an idea to perform my own mini Holi photoshoot with my friends in the studio where I get them to throw coloured pigments at me and photograph it to be used as reference images

Elephant Festival

The festival takes place in Jaipur, Rajasthan on the eve of Holi. The festival begins with a beautiful parade of decorated elephants, camels, horses and folk dancers. The elephants are embellished with vibrant colours, jhool (saddle cloth) and heavy jewellery. Female elephants wear anklets which tinkle as they walk and the people perched on top of elephants sprinkle Gulal (coloured powder). The elephants are also outfitted with ear danglers and brocade scarves to embellish their ears and necks. The Mahouts, who are known as the caretakers of the elephants, decorate the foreheads of the animals with head-plates as well as garnish their tusks with gold, silver bracelets and rings.

I originally looked into this festival as my mum told me to look into painted elephants which are very beautiful which was when I came across this festival. However, after doing my research, I have found that it is has had a bit of controversy from animal rights activists who were concerned with the welfare of the animals and whether the paints were safe for the elephants. Despite this and the festival being cancelled in 2013 and 2014 it still goes ahead every year to this day. The elephants symbolise royalty in Rajasthan and if you look at old paintings of Indian royalty and Indian gods you will often see them riding an elephant.

I want to include elephants in my work somehow as not only a reference to the circus but because they’re very important in Indian culture. In a tutorial with Matthew, he said he’d love to see some of my colourful underpainting coming throughwhen I paint people over them so I think painting the painted elephants might be an interesting way to do this. The colours would match the background and bring some of it into the foreground.

Cultural appropriation and Exoticism | Based on talks with Fay

Cultural appropriation is when a person adopts the customs, practices, ideas, etc of someone, a society or a culture without the proper knowledge of that culture and the history of that specific custom making it offensive to wherever they took that specific thing from. There is a fine line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation which is when someone actively goes out of their way to learn about a culture to expand their knowledge and perspective. This is something that I am actively doing in my project. By researching themes and traditions thoroughly before creating something based on that so that I don't offend anyone.

This topic came about in an Individual tutorial with Fay where she asked me what I would say if someone asked me about that subject. She suggested that I have a conversation with my Indian friends to discuss this matter and ensure that my work is culturally sensitive and correct.

Exoticism is something that also came up in conversation with Fay. Exoticism is a trend in European art and design where artists became fascinated with ideas and styles from distant regions and drew inspiration from them. Some travellers would become obsessed with that culture and end up marrying someone from that region.

I would not say that I see Indian culture in this way. I am purely using this time to educate myself on Indian culture whilst also learning about my family heritage in India. I think that all cultures are beautiful in their own ways and love them for what they are.

Mandala Research

A mandala is a geometrical configuration of shapes that come in 3 forms; A teaching mandala, Healing mandala and a Sand mandala. Teaching mandalas are symbolic and act as a colourful mental map for their creator. Healing mandalas are more intuitive than teaching mandalas. They are made for the purpose of meditation and are intended to deliver wisdom, evoke feelings of calm, and channel focus and concentration. Sand mandalas have long been used by Buddhist monks and Navajo cultures as a traditional religious element. The intricate designs use a variety of symbols made from coloured grains of sand that once complete, are destroyed to represent the impermanence of human life.

Within their intricate circular patterns, you can find common symbols throughout mandalas. Traditionally, they include the presence of Buddha’s mind in an abstract form, most commonly represented as a wheel, tree, flower, or jewel. The center is a dot, which is a symbol considered free of dimensions and acts as the starting point. From there, the dot is surrounded by lines and geometrical patterns that symbolize the universe, encompassed by the outer circle which represents the cyclical nature of life.

Mandalas are a very common symbol in India, hence why I have chosen to research them. India is a very spiritual country with many religions with Hinduism being the majority. The Mandala acts as a common ground between many of these religions in India. I was originally drawn to the mandalas for their symmetry, beauty and bright colours which are all things that lie parallel with my work. Moving forwards I want to practice creating my own mandalas that hold their own symbolisms relevant to my family history and my findings throughout this project.

Sketchbook notes

Below are just pictures of notes form my sketchbooks with areas like planning and looking into subject areas briefly to learn important symbolisms.