PLEASANT SURPRISES
» 2009 January

The world we live in now is a funny thing sometimes, and drastically different from before. That's not to date a comment or something like that, but take for instance, the internet; one day someone uploads/ blogs about something, the next day even the remotest area in the world has news of it (provided they don't have governmental blocks!).

The following are screencaps of some of my items in Brasil, forwarded to me by my friends, and one of Elle Decór India [»], from last year's visit to Mumbai.

Please click on the text link if the images do not show.


from Elle Décor, India 1 [»] • Elle Décor, India 2 [»]


from Casa Mix [»]


from Casa & Comforto [»]


from Correio Campo GD [»]


from EM Casa [»]

These will all be up in the Features [»] section soon, but for now here are previews.

Labels: events-abaca-india, places-brasil, places-india, press-related

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HOME FROM INDIA: DHANYAVAAD!
» 2008 October

Traveling is a very essential ingredient in a designer's context, as it opens up numerous windows of inspiration. It also keeps one exposed, and in contact with the world at large––and such an amazing world it happens to be, indeed. Through cultural touchpoints such as food, art, religion and of course interaction with the place and the locals, travel creates a niche in one's mind which will eventually also affect all creative processes in some way.



7th~11th of October found me and my niece in the heart of bustling Bombay to be part of the product launch of my collections at ABACA India [»]. Mercifully we had half a day to settle down; our route had many pit stops––from Cebu to Davao in Mindanao, to Singapore, and finally to Bombay––but the morning after found us back on our feet.



The product launch and the Elle Décor-sponsored talk coincided fortuitously with two very ancient, very important events in the Hindi calendar: Durga Puja [»] and the Diwali [»]. For the evening's event, there was much arranging to be done and last-minute tweaking, but it was fun, and it reminded me oh so much of Milano!





Apart from the product and designer launch, I had the great opportunity to speak to a crowd of young students of the Sansa Rachna University, with colleges for architecture and interior design.



The food was incredible, of course; albeit naturally needing a few starter meals to get used to the food and how it is properly eaten, once one gets the hang of it, there really is no end to the eating. Very little room to 'feel guilty' too, since a lot of the food available is vegetarian, and prepared with meticulous detail. The chutneys for instance, were amazing.



• • • • • •

On the 12th~15th of October, we found ourselves in Kutch, which is in the Gujarat region of India. Rural for the most part, the cottage industries that were found there were fairly flourishing, proving that with a systematic approach, commercialism and retention of local crafts' quality can go in perfect synch.




Several challenges for the beginner though: Kutch is right by the Pakistan border, and thus is largely a desert area; the heat of the sun had probably never been as hot as I ever remembered it to be! That, and for someone used with a bit of meat in the everyday fare, Kutch is entirely vegetarian. It was also where we had what was probably the best lunch of the whole experience––in the humble living room of a woodblock artisan's home.



We were welcomed by a very hospitable staff who accompanied us throughout our Kutchi sojourn. Certainly it humbled and inspired me in many ways. Beauty and its practical application speaks clearest through material and the skill of the artisan. Technology in Kutch is developing; and yet pumping their local skill and being proud of the local arts, putting it out internationally and ensuring that the next generation is both aware of, and interested in its continuation, keeps the aesthetics alive.




The empowerment of women was a particularly strong movement in the area. Women who, for years and years have lived without tapping into their full potential as meticulous craftspersons, now produce embroidery works for limited-edition designs, as well as for more commercial enterprises, with stores in major cities like Delhi and Bombay. For instance, also the movement of Tsunamika [»] which helps women from villages devastated by monsoons and tsunamis, promotes industry from the cottage level, through creating hand-made little dolls from scraps of cloth.




Friends were made along the way.

Labels: events-abaca-india, places-india

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ABACA INDIA LAUNCHING EVENT
» 2008 September

And yet, another pleasant surprise! Just as I thought that the glittering event of the Panama launch [»] was stellar enough, stirrings in the other side of the world bode of similarly interesting happenings! Our friends of Abaca India [»], has invited us to the launch of our designs in her furniture shop and showroom located in Mumbai (Bombay). This will be on the 9th of October 2008.



Elle Décor India will be there, and I will conduct a designers' forum/ workshop in one of Mumbai's architectural universities. We will also be visiting the charming artisan city of Kutch in the Gujarat region, to look at their beautiful and world-renowned products. I don't think I could get any more excited than this! Definitely the daily grind of the workplace is tinged with just the right kind of anticipation and excitement, and I am having my niece and assistant, K, help me with my presentation.

Fortituously, this will coincide with the celebration of the Diwali Light Festival [»] in India. I am hoping for––literally and figuratively––an even brighter afterglow in the form of design inspiration and brilliant discoveries where material and material sourcing, handling is concerned. Nobody has left India without emerging with some sort of "enlightenment," artistically or otherwise; the Beatles are a famous example.

I am excited to find out what India has planned for me.

• • • •

Last weekend was a rest day for most of the world, but was a field day for me! I wouldn't want to call it 'work' because, first and foremost, this is an honour for me to see to the designs of the house of the Great Designer, and second, because the location of the novitiate of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters [»] in Talisay, Bacolod, is in the middle of the most peaceful place in the world.

With my staff of two and the kindly nuns, we finally set up the interiors. Below is an inlay detail of one part of the fixtures. This wall/ lighting installment is of fiber glass, and lights up with warm yellow lights from behind. The leaves, reminiscent of the MaiTai collection [»], are meant to evoke security and peaceful seclusion, as how canopies of trees serve as demarcations of solace from the world.



Well there's another week, and the Mumbai Project to look forward to! A little tired from the very long land trip from the novitiate site (2 hours to the dock, 2 hours travel over sea via barge, and another 2 hours to ride from the port in Bacolod, to the rural area itself), but it's nothing coffee and looking at production runs can't fix!



As promising as it seems to be, and as diligent as everyone else involved is, there are still loose ends that need to be covered, financially. Whatever little the sisters can receive in terms of donation is very much welcomed. There have been a few snags––after all, these are expected given it is a long-range progress monitoring––but always a challenge that presents itself even in desing: how can this problem be solved?

Labels: events-abaca-india, place-Talisay-Bacolod, places-india, projects-CTS-Novitiate

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