Paper Planes – Celebrating Thoughtful Design

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Further-Reading-On-Nature

Editor's Picks

Lessons on Coexistence & Conservation from the Nilgiris

The Todas, an ancient, indigenous community in the Nilgiri hills, have a deep ecological understanding of their surrounds that is interwoven with their folklore and everyday life

Pantry-Trippin’ with the Rolling Pin

A tool found in Indian kitchens, ancient Italy, and around the world

Books That Bring You Closer to the Sea

Maritime story recommendations from five Indian writers

INTERVIEWS

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Aditya Bidikar

Set in Type

ESSAYS

The Art of Losing

Words by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

Books and Reading

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5 Books To Understand Caste Issues, From Navayana

Five recommended reads from the independent, anti-caste publishing house

EVENTS

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Oddly Enough N°5: Where Will Our Food Come From?

Presenting — the fifth edition of Oddly Enough, a series by Paper Planes

DESIGN & LIVING

Goods to Know: Wooden Speakers by Diwiks

Refurbished doors and windows from Rajasthani havelis make up the casing for these limited-edition speakers

VIDEOS

Publications | Conversations | Events

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Terracotta Bowl Staggered Stance 5/7 Portion by Thukral and Tagra

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Hidden Kingdom by Nirupa Rao

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Bombay, 2050. By Tara Anand. ——— If you’re

Delhi-based independent publishing house Navayana

Delhi-based independent publishing house Navayana (@navayanabooks) focuses on caste issues from an anti-caste lens. “Navayana renews itself each time it offers the world a book,” says S. Anand, co-founder of the publishing house. “Each book is an arrow with no calculable target apart from causing a new vital wound of thinking. Each new book is a kick of life: no book is less urgent than any other, no book more urgent.” We asked him to recommend five titles from their roster. Link in bio.

WEEKEND READING • The pandemic has, for many of

WEEKEND READING • The pandemic has, for many of us, evoked newfound reverence for our homes. Here, @khorshed_d makes a case for the dining table. She writes about how our time at home has made us appreciate this oft-disregarded piece of furniture. Read on via the link in our bio.

@avnidoshi’s evocative debut novel ‘Burnt Suga

@avnidoshi’s evocative debut novel ‘Burnt Sugar’ — or ‘Girl in White Cotton’ as we know it in India — may not have bagged the #2020BookerPrize last night, but it had a fantastic run! 🥂 The book has been acquired by 25 publishing houses worldwide, and is being translated into 22 languages due for publication in the coming years. These are in-progress shots of a beautiful bespoke bound edition of the book, created by designer @sue.doggett and commissioned by @thebookerprizes and @db_bookbinding_uk.

In Doggett’s words, “The main theme that influenced the design of the binding was opposition: Antara and Ma, fat and sugar, remembering and forgetting, tradition and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. There are suggestions of sweets and the colours of sweets (almond and pistachio), the chemical symbols for fats and sugars, the prevalence of mirrors, the fabrics that Antara finds in her mother’s cupboard and the volatile and often distant relationships between the men and women in the novel. The embroidery is a form of drawing and references the ways in which Antara uses it, amongst other things, to try and understand her mother’s dementia.”
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Shuggie Bain by New York-based Glaswegian @douglas_stuart won the 2020 Booker Prize.

It’s always exciting to see familiar faces being

It’s always exciting to see familiar faces being recognised globally, and the nominees for this year’s Beazley Designs of the Year award, organised by London’s @designmuseum, include some of our favourite Indian design projects. There’s @borderandfall’s expansive #TheSariSeries, a sari drape documentation project, @socialdesigncollaborative’s ingenious ModSkool, designed to be easily erected and dismantled in response to forced evictions of farming communities on the floodplains of the Yamuna and held together with the form of weave used for a charpoy, and IKEA’s homeware collection made from rice straw (hi @akanksha.sharma), the residue that is traditionally set aflame and contributes heavily to the polluted air across north India. Bollywood too has representation with @manishmalhotra05’s costume design for Kalank, Abhishek Varman’s period drama. The winners will be announced next week — we’re rooting for you!

A couple of days ago, the neoclassical façade of

A couple of days ago, the neoclassical façade of London’s Tate Britain (@tate) got dressed up with a Diwali-inspired installation by Punjabi-Liverpudlian artist @chilaburman. ‘Remembering a Brave New World’ — with its neon imagery of Bollywood pop culture and Hindu dieties — is meant to bring light to the city’s dark winter days and offer hope for a brighter future. The installation is inspired by the artist’s childhood visits to the Blackpool illuminations and her family’s ice-cream van. There are details that also bring to the fore colonial history — for instance, the figure of Britannia at the top of the building is overlaid with an image of Kali, and Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi, who fought against the British rule in the 19th century, also features in the installation.
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Tate Britain is closed, but the installation will be on display until the end of January. Photo by @joehumphrys.

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