Who are you, what are you, the place are you from? For designer Vivek Karunakaran, these questions transcend id. They are the inspiration of Adayalam, that means id, his new cultural property. Set to debut on the Chettinad Heritage Festival this 12 months, it’s envisioned as a travelling showcase that threads collectively trend, craft, artwork, music, and design.
“The whole idea of Adayalam stems from this deep-rooted feeling that it is so important for us to identify talent, support it, and then collaborate to create something more meaningful,” he says. The first version will convey weavers, musicians, designers, and artists into one house, positioning the showcase as each a dialogue and a platform for alternate.
Vivek Karunakaran
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Special Arrangement
For Vivek, Adayalam can be the end result of years spent navigating how the South of India is perceived inside the trend world. “I remember when I went to Lakme Fashion Week in 2007, how underrepresented I felt about the south of India,” he remembers. “From then on, something struck me — the unwavering spirit of trying to change that ideology, that we are not as invisible as you think we are, and there is so much more to give.”
The Chettinad Heritage Festival, with its give attention to structure, textiles and dwelling traditions, grew to become the pure setting for the debut of Adayalam. Among the highlights is a textile set up created with three weaving households from the area, every contributing saris that carry the reminiscence of their looms and lineage. “Adayalam is not there to just promote who we already know,” Vivek says.
Photograph from Amar Ramesh’s Pillar collection
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Special Arrangement
Beyond this, Vivek is obvious concerning the sort of conversations Adayalam ought to spark. In a world the place id is usually decreased to curated social media profiles, he desires the platform to go deeper.
Collaboration is central to the challenge. For the debut, Vivek has introduced collectively artists, musicians, jewellers, and designers whose practices are rooted in cultural id however open to reinterpretation. He admits that curating such a combine is a course of that can evolve over time. “Right now, the spirit is to bring people together and make it happen, rather than to plan every detail. With the right collaborations, the impact can be far greater. That’s something I will learn and refine as Adayalam grows.”
That spirit additionally extends to music and pictures. At Chettinad, Vivek will current a collaboration between Carnatic vocalist Sandeep Narayan and up to date composer Bjorn Surrao, creating a efficiency that bridges classical custom and trendy soundscapes. There may even be a collaboration with photographer Amar Ramesh, who shall be displaying tremendous artwork prints of his works on tradition and id. “We are reimagining the genres of what each of us do, but to create something that is very different and beautiful,” he says. It is the sort of convergence he hopes Adayalam will proceed to foster throughout artwork kinds, from meals and textiles to design and efficiency.
Photograph from Amar Ramesh’s Mogappu collection
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Even because the format will shift throughout cities, the intention is obvious: to maneuver past surface-level showcases and create actual alternatives for communities. “At the end of the day, if this does not translate into a transaction, it is a worthless exercise,” Vivek says. “We want to tell beautiful stories, but also help these people build their businesses.”
As the showcase opens in Chettinad and prepares to journey past — Vivek says he hopes to evoke a sense of rootedness that makes folks wish to be half of the journey.
The 4th Chettinad Heritage & Cultural Festival is scheduled to happen from September 12 to 16.
