In response to @Windy City Girl's post about celebrating holidays in this most unusual year of our lifetimes, I give you the holiday experience of two of your own qvwomen.
November is the month of Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. A celebration with fun and festivities with family and friends. This year, it was so conveniently over the weekend. However, the circumstances of the year kept any holiday plans confined to family members at home and party planning to zoom calls and online games J .
Surprisingly, my workplace sent out messaging about Diwali. This was a first, and they invited Rangoli* submissions from associates to mark the festival. It had been years, if not decades since I and my friend and colleague qvwoman @Aparna Shastry made rangolis, but we were excited to participate and show interest and support for the initiative.
My Saturday started with a pencil sketch and colored rangoli “inspired” by something online. I was thrilled and sent it to Aparna, who gave me invaluable input. What could have been a lack luster afternoon galvanized us into making patterns and decorating in our respective homes, exchanging ideas and improvising, Aparna reminisced about an art project she did with her son, I recollected my mother’s rangolis with my daughter on our Diwali trip some years ago. I enhanced my basic design and remembered about sand colors hidden away somewhere right in my basement and brought out the clay lamps to jazz up the pictures. Unknowingly, we had chosen a unique way to celebrate the holiday this year!
*Rangoli is an art form, originating in the Indian subcontinent, in which patterns are created on the floor or the ground using materials such as colored rice, colored sand, quartz powder or flower petals.
Thanks for the snow design pictures. How similar to the Rangoli designs! Would not have imagined visualisation of designs will be alike .after all we all have same or close to same perceptions of design and beauty. Temporary art has its own unique charm whatever the material Rangoli, sand or snow,
I found this on BBC!! In Finland, the locals have carved this on a golf course using-- their feet!!! Take a look at the full article as well as more images.
This type of temporary art is so interesting and intriguing!! And a global thing.
Thank you BBC for this lovely post!
This is an explosion of color and art. Such precision geometry!! And the scale varies so much, from the first post to the recent comment from @arakalic reg. the temple rangoli. I cannot imagine such a huge piece of art being temporary, but then so is life isn't it? The best moments in life are all fleeting, and it is the memories that we cherish more. So too Rangoli I suppose...reminds us that we should enjoy beauty in that moment and hold onto the feeling and not the actual material thing.
Hope that was not too philosophical?? Loving the art though...
wow! Rangoli in an office in USA! This simple art form an everyday thing for Indians across its diverse regions and known by different names. it can be simple, small or huge done by a single to multiple people depending on its aesthetic and space appeal. And it is woman's forte in India.
It is very nice that others are getting to know about it and expressing appreciation@Yevitte 's comment shows. That way everyone understands creativity whatever the form. Good show @Aparna Shastry and @Shalini Ramachandra .
Rangoli is a temporary art. A Rangoli in front of the house or courtyard is drawn everyday indicates all is well with the household and visitors can come.
Rangoli is not just a household art, It is used in big spaces like temples as decoration and expression of joy, happiness ,indication of the significance of festivals, To give the readers an idea i have uploaded a Rangoli drawn in front of the Sharadamba temple in Sringeri , Karnataka, India.
This Diwali Rangoli acquires special significance. Because this Diwali there were no fireworks, no get togethers, no home travels, no exchange of sweets and a no no of a host of activities associated with Diwali.People decorated their houses with Rangoli and lamps to express hope for a new beginning and drive away he shadow of darkness cast by the pandemic world over.
First I should thank @Shalini Ramachandra for inspiring me to participate and think outside the box, otherwise, I was planning to be just the viewer. After brainstorming for a day or two I rolled up my sleeves to work on it, anyway, it was indeed fun to have a rangoli for this Diwali.
This is so eye catching! The designs and the motiffs are really colourful.. good to know about some new simple art form any one of us can learn. I think it is there in a slightly different form in some other cultures too. Thank you Shalini Ramachandra and Aparna Shastri for the photos. It gave me a good idea to try my hand at it. I think it is good as a corner highlighting thing
This is very cool @Shalini Ramachandra . I remember when I was in elementary and middle school, they had a Rangoli contest annually. What was cool about it is that they encouraged students to think out of the box and express current events, historic events, role models etc., expressed as rangoli.
Some took it literally and did faces of famous people, one I distinctly remember did a black map of Japan with two scattered blobs where Hiroshima and Nagasaki is...to talk of the WW 2 bombings...others did very abstract things and some just gave wonderful explanations to bad art work!! Teachers and judges of course had some choice words for the last category!!
Thank you for taking me back in time to those contests!!
This really is why I started QV Woman...warms my heart...
Great to see this piece on Rangoli.
This ancient Indian art was the original 'street art', in front of homes, stores and temples. With rice flour as the medium, designs and complex patterns were made using dot matrices with specific number of columns and rows. It was also thought of as a way to ward off ants and keep them out of the house as the ants could feed on the rice flour! A kind of 'live and let live' logic.
We pulled some interesting articles on Rangoli. Here they are:
This one tells us in detail about the history and origins (Cultural India.net)
This is more image intense and is from the 'My Modern Met' website.
This, again talks about the history and evolution of Rangoli and is by the Swastik Rangoli Artists Group.
Thank you @Shalini Ramachandra for sharing this very interestingly modern yet ancient art!
@Shalini Ramachandra , loving that you did something so bright and colorful to cheer yourself and in that process discovered so many memories... and great job roping in fellow qvwoman @Aparna Shastry too!
The art by itself is beautiful and what makes it even more special is the memories it brought forth. Companies are doing their bit to get employees somewhat engaged socially, at least in your case it was fun!
How wonderful, Shalini! Thank you for sharing your experience and the pictures! Now, not only did you use creativity and ingenuity to celebrate, but you spread the word to those of us who had never even heard of Rangoli!
I'm continually inspired and amazed at how, with creativity and innovative thinking, we can work together and create something new and beautiful. This is just one example of finding joy instead of sorrow through challenges and hardships. Taking that one step further and sharing will inspire others to do the same!