VITHARA - A JOURNEY FROM FOOD TO TEXTILES
Unnakaya is an emotion to any malayali. Especially for the muslims in the northern part of Kerala. The soft crunchy bite of an unnakaya at any time is a quick ride back home, sitting around the table, the entire family, with food in front of us, waiting patiently for the bhank to be called from the masjid, to break the fast in the holy month of Ramadan. Food to textile was the theme for the fourth semester design project. Without a second thought, my choice was Unnakaya.
Unnakayas are fried dumplings of mashed bananas with coconut filling. They are also called Kai porichathu, Kai ada. The word unnakaya literally means Kapok cotton pod. The food got its name from this pod because of the resemblance of the shape and filling.
Went forward with one surface and tried different variations with different materials, including rubber. The filling was shredded waste fabric. As this surface had amazing tactile effects, I went forward with concept of acupuncture. Made a pair of acupuncture sliders with the surface I developed, which can be used on carpet floorings. The colour for the product is customisable. The product's name is Vithara, meaning a store for seeds in malayalam.
Course guided by- Medha Bhatt and Sucharita Beniwal
Model- Sachin Sreekumar