The experience of viewing and interacting with art has taken a contemporary form in recent years. An amalgamation of tech and design has transformed the landscape of artistic innovation through unique collaborations. Bringing a similar experience to India, Mumbai Light Festival's third satellite event, IMMERSE is an upcoming showcase of two audiovisual acts bringing together diverse artists, genres and influences. 

The first act is an immersive audiovisual experience, ‘Once Upon A Time’ bringing together Padma Shri Awardee Durgabai Vyam and animation artist Vishwesh for a joint venture. ‘Once Upon A Time’ reimagines Durgabai’s Gond paintings, which have been brought to life and animated by Vishwesh to the hypnotic tunes of Bana – a three-string fiddle that is traditionally played by the Pardhan Gond community that Durgabai hails from.

One of the leading names in the Pardhan Gond tradition of tribal art, Durgabai Vyam explores themes of folklore and mythology drawn primarily from her birthplace in her paintings. The inspirations are rooted in the ethos of Gond community from Burbaspur in Madhya Pradesh who are known for their distinctive ability to tell a story. 

Durgabai’s talent was identified by her brother-in-law and legendary Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam who encouraged her to explore contemporary forms of expression. In 2008, she collaborated with two other Gond artists, Ram Singh Urveti and Bhajju Shyam, to create illustrations for the book ‘The Night Life of Trees’. They were subsequently presented the Bologna Ragazzi Award in Italy for the same. 

Her collaboration with Vishwesh Menon, a self-taught musician, character designer, animator, animation producer has transformed a traditional artform to an immersive audio-visual experience. As a director he has 15 years of experience in the animation industry and one of his biggest contributions to the industry has been a motion design training course for professional graphic designers looking to develop their skills.

The second act is a new and previously unseen collaborative audiovisual experience, titled Overture, by visual artist Aniruddh Mehta (BigFat) and music technology expert Aaron Pereira (Myles). Overture features a mesmerising abstract experience of plush gradients, complex geometries and ambient textures in BigFat’s signature style.

An artist and a designer based in Mumbai, Aniruddh Mehta’s work ranges from traditional graphic design to digital and new media arts. His practice traverses through various mediums with a common theme rooted in precise organisation. He is also the founder of Studio Bigfat which is a multi-disciplinary design studio focusing on a broad spectrum of design areas. His collaboration with tech expert Aaron Pereira is going to be a distinctive music experience for the country as both the artists integrate two artistic sensibilities together. 

Get more information regarding the event and register for the acts here. 

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