ABOUT!
The creation of a Kolam, a traditional Indian art form, involves an intentionality in every step of the process: from choosing the geometric patterns and colours to its motifs and materials.
Additionally, the physical act of making it, through a tactile and sensory experience, is deeply ingrained in its tradition and cultural significance.
'Anatomy of a Kolam' raises a conversation about bridging human and machine, tradition and technology, probing whether the essence of cultural forms can truly be translated into the language of automation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project would not have been possible without the generous insights, practices, and reflections shared by Aarati Akkapeddi, Dr. Vijaya Nagarajan, and Vijaya Mohan. Their distinct voices and modes of engaging with kolam, as computational ritual, ecological philosophy, and communal art, shaped the foundational inquiry of this work. I am deeply grateful for their time, patience, and trust in sharing their stories.
‘Anatomy of a Kolam’ is a research project by Aditi Neti undertaken as part of the inaugural 2024-25 cycle of the Design Research Fellowship. Organised by SAM Design Collection, an initiative of Singapore Art Museum, this new platform supports alternative pathways for and forms of design(-adjacent) research. Thanks to Berny Tan and Siobhan Tang for their guidance and help!
Images of Still Rendering: Projects by the 2024-25 Design Research Fellows are courtesy of Singapore Art Museum. Photos by Marvin Tang.
Some personal thanks are in order, too. Thank you to Ullu for all your coding help and please don't judge my very verbose code.