Temporary platforms are set up for main ceremonies at all kinds of celebrations in India, often decorated with colourful drapes, flowers, lights and bright, high-contrast patterns – making them the centre-stage for official ceremonies. These centre-stages are usually accompanied by the decoration of the entry gates to the venue by creating make-shift arches with fabric, bamboo, metal truss, real and plastic flowers and other materials. Because of the large scale use and limited time to set up these events, the installation process of the gates are quick. Add to that the variability in the different available spaces these have to be put up – from housing societies, to narrow by-lanes to fixed venues and gardens.
Individually and in comparison to each other, components and materials that make these diverse celebration gates seem to reflect features of Indian society. Kulavoor was also reminded of the nature of the post-modern Memphis designs from the 80s, canopies and fabric renditions in Mughal and Pahari miniature paintings, symmetry and asymmetry of art-deco architecture style. This project goes beyond the documentation of mere kitschy decoration and makes links between shifts in cultural movements across the globe.
Rahul Mehrotra (prominent Indian architect, urbanist and academician) talks about ‘Ephemeral Urbanism’ and provokes us to ponder material impermanence in his book – as part of his Ephemeral City Research Project – conceived at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, with the aim of making non-permanent configurations of the city landscape a legitimate addition to current urban discourse. In that context, these celebration gates are a great example of a temporary and sustainable ‘pop-up’ event that is built lightly on the earth.
In recent times, the proliferation of vinyl printed graphics and advertisements have begun to replace fabrics and as such the traditional fabric mandap gates have started becoming obsolete.
