We blummin’ love India and its rich design heritage, read about us banging on about Mumbai right here. So a big old THANK YOU to Kawal Oberoi, a designer based in Kasol, Himachal Pradesh, for getting in touch with this gem, Swatch Bharat, “a collection of Indian vernacular visuals or ‘desi aesthetics’ created to inspire designers, illustrators and visual artists.”
Oberoi says that Swatch Bharat “was born out of fear and frustration.” He continues: “Fear of losing expressions of ‘desi [local/indigenous] aesthetics’ we see around India to the western aesthetics brought in by globalization. The fear is quite real as a lot of what you will see in Swatch Bharat has been replaced, repainted, or discarded by people.
“Frustration from seeing the typical Indian elements and style being re-interpreted by fellow designers and ad agencies. Chai, moustaches, turbans etc. I felt that it could be due to lack of online reference point for desi aesthetics created by Indians themselves.”
Good on you Kawal!