Tanvee Nabar

Srishti school of Art,Design and Technology

Tanvee Nabar is one fourth of the Ladyfingers Co. team, a young design studio based in Bangalore, and is often responsible for the drawings included in many of their designs. Her aim has always been to depict a diversity of form and context in her drawing – especially humans. This has often led to much questioning with respect to socio-cultural and economic factors, a sensitivity to which she is eager to cultivate further. She also enjoys weaving humour into all her work. She is currently trying to live up to her ideal of drawing a little bit everyday.

Abstract:
Illustration within local and hybrid cultures

In 2012, while still a student at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, I participated in the Pratham Books Lab. The objective of this lab was to illustrate different books for the non-profit organization, Pratham Books, a children’s book publisher. The brief provided for this project and the book I finally worked on will be the basis for this presentation.

To explain a little about the brief, it was to illustrate a bilingual book, the text for which was already written and title already set. The content was intended for early learners of English . Its aim was to create relatable rather than aspirational material.

Beginning by exploring the Pratham Books project as an exercise in hybridity , I would like to look at the following questions; How did the nature of the brief require me to inspect a culture and create representations that were hybrids of my own understanding of that culture? Whilst working in a context other than my own, am I always birthing a hybrid?

The hybrid can be understood by identifying ‘markers’ (iconic cultural artefacts) in objects, patterns and colours that help to establish the ambience of a culture.
How did I negotiate stereotypes; in the process of representing visually, a context other than my own? How did I use the praxis of illustration to study material culture?

An integral part of the project was the client. Thus client choices based on their own understanding of their audience demographic provided another layer of insight and will help me bring my experience to a logical conclusion.
What where their points of reference, their concerns and observations? What was their opinion on this new born hybrid?
The above subheads are helping me understand the following question; as an illustrator working with given (unchangeable) text, what is the nature of the narrative I am creating?