Tuesday 11 September 2012

The denim uniform and Indian art exhibition revisited

On Everybody Everywear the monthly challenge for September is "back to school". It has been a few years since I left school (the school I'm attending now is an business academy), and we didn't wear a uniform.

Looking back at my childhood, remembering what I wore, I realize that I almost always wore the exact same thing: Jeans, t-shirt, trainers, a denim jacket and a large scarf. That was my "uniform" for years!


Old uniform






































This is as close to my old denim outfits as I can get. The jacket is now fitted, the jeans are dark wash and the trainers are black Ecco instead of the white Adidas. Back then the scarf would be a Keffiyeh, inspired by Yasser Arafat. Now it's a piece of Indian cotton fabric.


Old denim jacket from Noa Noa

























The jacket is about ten years old, but still a favorite although I haven't worn it much lately. The shape is more like a fitted blazer than a classic denim jacket, which suits my body shape so much better.


Two different denim colours






































I wore this jacket so often that I got a bit tired of it. Now that I've had a break, it may be time to pull it out from the closet again. Doesn't it look OK with the dark wash denim?


Now back to the art exhibition! Apart from Manish Arora who I favoured yesterday, there were others, very talented fashion designers with some amazing creations. Here's a few more (remember to click the photos to have them enlarged - the difference is significant):


Amit Aggerwal





















Prashant Verma, blue dress - Manish Arora other dress





















Little Shilpa


























Manish Arora, again!





















and again!





















The creation by Little Shilpa reminded me of Hans Christian Andersen's tale 'The Emperor's new clothes'... It's a very beautiful creation, but there isn't a lot of it!

If you take a closer look at the blue peacock print dress by Prashant Verma, you'll see my reflection in the semi -transparent screen next to the dress. It took a few photos to get it right as the screens were turning all the time!

The fashion part of the exhibition was absolutely breathtaking! The craftsmanship that was used on these creations was unbelievable! Many pieces were decorated heavily, with lots of blingy parts - beads, sequins, lurex. The colours weren't as "Indian" as I was expecting, maybe more harmonious? Anyway, every single creation was a masterpiece to me!


The rest of the exhibition introduced me to some fantastic artists - I've made collages as above, with the artist's name underneath.


 
Vivan Sundaram


















The red dress is made of bras, the other one, old trainers!


Ravinder Reddy


































These sculptures really turned heads! The shadows on the floor are very interesting too.


Doshi Levien

































The mirrors on the walls are fantastic and the furniture just amazing, to look at! I sat in the yellow chair - it was extremely hard!


Rina Banerjee






































Rina Banerjee





I love how the artist combines the strangest materials such as seashells, feathers, dolls' heads, drift wood and much more. These strong colours are very Indian to me.



Atul Dodiya




































This is really double paintings. It's two layers, the top is a motorized metal roller shutter that pulls away and reveals a picture painted on canvas, when a button is pressed.



Jitish Kallat




















This collage is just brilliant! I saw many visitors having trouble leaving this one - there's so much to look at. I like the way it meets in the corner, very original.

The next picture is an introduction to the installation Escape! Resume/Reset. I took so many photos as there was so many details, and I didn't want to leave any out.


Introduction to Escape Airlines






































Click the picture to enlarge - and read!

Thukral & Tagra






















View from "the end" of the installation



The lamps were tilted and formed SOS on the wall



Masks and bags like on real airlines, plus matching bags!


The gaming arcade in the lower right corner!



This installation was hard to leave, I just wanted to sit in those gorgeous chairs and watch Indian films. It's hard to imagine the amount of work it has taken to produce everything. There was the incredible paintings on the wall, with flashing lights, the carpet pieces, the upholstery in different, printed Indian cottons, the matching bags, sleep masks, pillows... There was so much to explore, and not enough time!

Finally, the one piece that touched me the most, Subodh Gupta's Terminal!


Subodh Gupta




























It's just brass, but it's so beautiful. I've included the introduction from the museum. It's my foot in the lower middle photo!



Introduction to 'Terminal'




















 This is without comparison the longest post ever on this blog! However, I loved everything I saw on this exhibition, and wanted to share it. I hope you too have enjoyed the tour !

A last photo of 'Terminal'


Subodh Gupta









































25 comments:

  1. Love the look. Very good colors for Fall and love the scarf. I am looking forward to wearing scarfs again.

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  2. Thank you very much! I've been keeping these colours for the first rainy day in autumn, which was today!

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  3. First--I like the denim on denim look here. This was really a sizable exhibit and many things about it caught my eye: the skirt made of old trainers and the mirror in the shape of an eye! Lots of creativity.

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    1. Thank you so much Terri! It was an amazing exhibit, and hard to choose favorites - but the eye shaped mirrors were such a brilliant idea. The effect was startling, and they were absolutely memorable!

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  4. I love how you re-created the feeling of your back-to-school denim outfits from times past. I imagine there's also something of those memories in your lovely facial expression and posture in these photos. Thanks for sharing the many truly wonderful images from the art exhibition!

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    1. Thank you very much Amber! I have both happy and sad memories from my school days, like we all probably have. Last year I went to a reunion party, and we decided to meet again next year. Guess who's in charge? I guess most memories are happy!

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  5. This post is a visual smorgasbord! - so much to savour. I do love that fitted denim jacket with your dark jeans. Vavoom!

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    1. Thank you so much Melanie! I do live in the country of Smorgasbords - SmĆørrebrĆød! Apparently I can't confine my cooking habits to the kitchen!

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  6. The exhibition was obviously packed with wonderful pieces, I love the huge heads and the final piece Terminal is beautiful.
    You have made me re-examine my internal rule that forbids Double Denim, the 2 different washes look fine together. And the fitted jacket and well-fitting jeans make that back view rather scrumptious!
    I love the fact you always smile in your photos, I find it really difficult to look anything other than furious or miserable, when generally I feel neither! xxx

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    1. Thank you very much Curtise! The Double Denium ban has been a rule of mine too, since my teenage years. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw these photos, so I may have another go at the forbidden DD!

      When I take my photos I always try to imagine that my readers are sitting right there, in front of me, looking. Having an imaginary audience makes it easier to smile in a (hopefully) natural way.

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  7. You really know how to drape a scarf with panache! And your denim jacket fits perfectly. I was in visual heaven as I scrolled down and viewed your spectacular photos.

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    1. Thank you so much Judith! The jacket is a favorite, because of the great fit!

      This exhibition was so beautiful, colourful and interesting that I had a hard time getting out of there. I could have spent many days there!

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  8. it´s excellent style and new ideas every time.

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  9. Hi Tine, I am just dropping by quickly as life is pretty hectic right now. I definitely thinks the denim jacket work with the darker wash on your jeans. The exhibition looks amazing it must have been a lot of fun! And it must have been a lot of work to put all these photos on the blog!!!

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    1. Thank you so much Anna! Picking and organizing the photos into collages did take forever! But I think it was worth it - otherwise I couldn't have shown so many.

      The jacket is so versatile and fits so well that I wore it all the time - and there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing"! I do think I'm ready to wear again now after a quite long break.

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  10. Thank you for these wonderful photos, my dear friend.
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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  11. Wow, what fantastic visuals!! Every one is so interesting. Looks like you had a very entertaining night.

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    1. Thank you very much Joni! I actually spent many hours of the Sunday at the exhibition, and I still hadn't had enough!

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  12. Beautiful photos you have here. Btw, love that denim jacket, eh. :)

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  13. first of all, the exhibit is amazing and your scarf! ah, simply gorgeous
    Xo Megan

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    1. Thank you so much Megan! I'm going to visit the exhibition again next week!

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