“She is a living message, A message of a new way of living In which Life is respected. A message of the Oneness of Life In which love has a place. A message of the sacredness of life In which we can celebrate, together. And life can be very simple Like Tsunamika is.”
Craftwork by : Shruti Jaiswal
When you are knocked over by the wave of loss, what brings you up? What keeps your hope alive, and dreams shining in the world around you? How do you deal with the emptiness within you?
Back in 2004, the ‘Tsunami’ created a havoc in the lives of countless number of people in the coastal region of Indian Ocean and so many other parts of the world. It was one of those rare instances when the tremors of this wave vibrated the entire earth and no place escaped the movement. It’s been 17 years to that catastrophic event, the aftershocks of which were felt as far as Alaska. And yet, while this wave brought such deep pain in the lives of countless number of people, it gave birth to a symbol of hope in the form of a little doll called – ‘TSUNAMIKA’. This little doll brought a sense of entanglement from this chaos & emptiness in the lives of so many wailing and saddened women. And it was also a woman who felt the wave of tremor in these aching heart – Ms. UMA PRAJAPATI, who is a graduate from NIFT, Delhi (1991-94 Batch). She was a young entrepreneur back then settled in Auroville leaving her home town in Bihar, when the Tsunami hit the southern coast. This very event changed her idea of doing garment business to a socially conscious work, when she saw those empty-eyed women on the coast of Tsunami hit region. It was like a signal from the unknown forces asking her to act. The idea of Ms. Prajapati who used the knowledge of design for a change in the lives of so many suffering women brought a calmness to their lifeless days and diverted their energy in a beautiful & creative manner to rekindle their lost emotion.
So much has happened over the last 17 years since the inception of this social project. The ‘Tsunamika’ dolls were never sold till date, rather it is gifted with love to share the message of hope.
More than six million dolls have been made so far and gifted to people across globe in more than 80 countries. Several storybooks are published on ‘Tsunamika dolls’ in seven languages. The project (a form of gift economy) received an award of excellence by the Govt. of India and got a special recognition by UNESCO. But what’s most interesting is that the project which was initiated 17 years ago is still ongoing so many years post tsunami. Probably it was the purity with which this project was initiated is what keeping it still going on in one or the other form. Several organizations including educational institutions (which was also one of the primary objectives of Ms Uma Prajapati to share the message of oceans & nature in educational institutions starting from the primary level) across the globe adopted the idea of this project in various ways.
One such work was done by the students of Indian Institute of Craft & Design, Jaipur. The idea of the project was to reinstate the lost value of oceans & water bodies which is being used as a dumping ground for waste materials in current scenario. And what could have been a better example than ‘Tsunamika’ to carry forward the idea of love and care.
When Ms. Uma Prajapati, who gave birth to the idea of Tsunamika approached IICD to collaborate with the project to give it a new direction, it was an enthralling idea for the students of IICD to work on a project of such great importance. They began their research right away and started ideating for the need and importance of ‘Tsunamika’. Several storyboards were made to understand the visuals and application of colors in beautiful and right manner. Since all the students were well versed with the idea of using colors, embroidery, machine stitching, tie and dye methods and various other techniques they begun with upcycling of the waste materials.
CRAFTING THE WAY : PAST, FUTURE & PRESENT
‘To learn from the past, to avoid a gloomy future, it’s the need of the time to act in Present.’ This very thought became the major source of inspiration in expressing the idea through waste fabrics and other materials. A collective effort gave an array of interesting work by different individual in multiple ways that brought out a colorful amalgamation of diverging thoughts, skills and visual language.
The knowledge of the past always brings in a better understanding of the act that we have committed and how it’s going to affect our lives as an individual and the society as a whole. The stories narrated in the visual form through artwork is also a symbolic representation of how we have been moving ahead so far in time.
Craftwork by : Pragya Baid
CRAFTWORK 1 (A,B)
‘The birth’
The craftwork 1 (A, B) called ‘THE BIRTH’ depicting the gradation of visual elements shows the shift of beautiful clean ocean into a polluted one through scraps of fabric. At the bottom of the ocean ‘Tsunamika’ dolls are shown as a living symbolism who is spreading love and aims to remove dirt and darkness from the ocean as well as people’s lives.
Craftwork by : Aparna Kumari
CRAFTWORK 2
Because the waste material can always be used and reused in many different ways, In artwork 2, the dolls frock has been embellished using the waste material around it like Plastic, fishing nets etc. This portray both the negative and positive aspects of the waste. On one hand it can be used to recreate various interesting objects and applied in multiple ways if treated properly but on the other hand it can be deadly for the water bodies if it gets thrown away and remain untreated.
Craftwork by : Aparna Kumari
CRAFTWORK 3
This illustration depicts the future of an ocean created using dyes, yarns, fabric scraps, and other surface embellishments on a fabric surface. As a result of massive fast fashion there is a gradual increases in textile waste and water pollution due to direct release of toxic dyes into the ocean.
Craftwork by : Aparna Kumari
CRAFTWORK 4
‘Reason of the birth’
In this artwork the lotus is a metaphorical representation of ‘Tsunamika’ showing ‘positivity in negativity’ as the lotus also blooms in the mud. The urge of hope and happiness was so high that it gave birth to this beautiful little doll. She not only spreads love but also a constant reminder for us to save and preserve our water bodies.
Craftwork by : Pragya Baid
CRAFTWORK 5
‘The Last Form’
All of us understand that though plastic is useful we can’t break it down. The life forms can’t differentiate between what is good and bad for them. Hence lots of water animal consume plastic in a quantity which is more than we can imagine. Using machine stitching and the dissolving sheet it was ideated to show how the plastic accumulated in the fishes have been killing them from the inside while everything seems perfect on the outside.
Craftwork by : Nikki Shweta
CRAFTWORK 6
Graves are represented with necklaces portraying garlands (malas) taken from the treasure box in this picture, which represents aquatic life that is on the verge of extinction due to increased global warming.
Craftwork by : Aditi Jain
CRAFTWORK 7
Bringing together by shades of blue known for spreading coolness, with a warmth of redness, tsunamika doll is extending her zest by spreading her arms to envelope the creatures of life.
Craftwork by : Aditi Jain
CRAFTWORK 8 (A,B)
‘Paradigm of hope’
The idea here is that ‘Tsunamaika’ is the epitome of hope not just for the ocean but for plants, birds, flora and fauna everything gets benefitted by her. She’s not just a mere doll whose motto is to spread love rather she’s grown to become a responsible lady. Her frock Is designed like waves of the ocean where fishes are playing and enjoying their life in clean water. And her hair is shown as the branches of tree where the birds are chirping. The two ends ‘water and sky’ are shown meeting.
Craftwork by : Nikki Shweta
Craftwork by : Krushnapalsingh Rana
CRAFTWORK 9
‘The warm embrace’
In the form of an octopus, the concept here is to show the change from polluted to purity. The head like structure is designed as the earth which is filled with garbage now and the tentacles are throwing out harmful substances like plastic, industry waste etc.
It signifies that the earth is removing the harmful waste from within to enhance itself like before. This also shows the change from negativity to positivity.
Craftwork by : Krushnapalsingh Rana
CRAFTWORK 10
‘The Elpis’
The name of the artwork is The Elpis because “Elpis” in Greek signifies the Spirit of Hope. The skirt doesn’t fall in the typical conical way because its in the shape of our world. Using the dissolving sheet and all other scraps it was used as a symbol to remind everyone to trust the process because even with all that scrap the doll is still beautiful. There is always light in the darkness and there is always hope even after destruction because it is always the dark dawn before the sun rises again.
Craftwork by : AVL Pooja
CRAFTWORK 11
‘Imminent Death’
The ‘koi fish circle’ depicts harmony and balance is now a representative of the state of the aquatic life. The relentless dumping of plastic in the seas and oceans have created a thick layer of debris on the surface of the water. It wraps around their necks, tails and their fins and ultimately the animals die. Our senseless acts affect the entire marine life.
The above craftwork also signifies our state as human beings in PRESENT and if we don’t act right now, the PAST that we have left behind will bring an end to our FUTURE. That brings a full circle to the life that is before us. We as human beings have immense capabilities to change the course of time and act responsible to live in harmony with the nature. Because nature can survive and flourish even when there are no human beings on this planet but we can’t survive without nature a single day.
Craftwork by : AVL Pooja