It's hard to believe how big a part graphic design plays in our lives. Few would guess that ancient Indian art too relied on the basic grids that are the foundation of today's website pages, floor layouts and even newspapers.
Unlike the static grids used in Western designs, Indian grids are more fluid, responsible for everything from the layout of temples to sari designs. Spotlighting them this month is Dimple Bahl, hoping to bridge the gap between modern design and traditional art with her art exhibit, 'Scripting the Past for the Future'. An academician practicing design education, Bahl has been teaching Graphic Design at the National Institute of Fashion Technology for the last 17 years, and has focused on Jain scriptures for this exhibit.
On till April 8 at Delhi's Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, the exhibition showcases grids in Hindu janampatris, the Adai dwipa (a traditional representation of the world inhabited by human beings in Jain cosmology), layouts of temples, and Jain manuscripts complete with margins to compartmentalise important information. Take a sneak peek in our slideshow before you stop by.
