Shining new light on India’s matchbox art
About the Artist
Harshit Agrawal is passionate about connecting everyone with traditional Indian craft in new ways. He explores the application of digital technologies to create experiences that allow personalized engagement with culture. With this experiment, Harshit showcases matchbox art in a new light, “infusing algorithms with their aesthetic and adding technology’s unique flavor.”
About the partners
Tasveer Ghar: A digital archive that promotes scholarly exchange about Indian and South Asian visual culture. Tasveer Ghar digitized and archived the Gautam Hemmady collection. Tasveer Ghar said: “We are thrilled to make Gautam Hemmady’s legacy even more accessible online so we can best preserve it for future generations, with new technology interventions.”
Museum of Art & Photography: Gautam Hemmady donated his collection of matchbox labels to the Museum of Art & Photography in 2021. Founder of Museum of Art & Photography, Abhishek Poddar, added: “We’re delighted with the opportunity to use cutting edge technologies that push the boundaries of how we view and make art – allowing artists to explore new forms of expression and creating new exciting pathways to access heritage for everyone. At MAP, we are constantly looking to showcase and celebrate the popular art forms from India using new technology, and are delighted to be able to build on Gautam Hemmady’s legacy in this unique fashion.”
