Artist Priya Mani Presents Visual Encyclopaedia Of Indian Food At Serendipity Arts Festival

The letter ‘A’ may be for Apple but ‘B’ is not for Boy in artist-writer Priya Mani’s ‘Visual Encyclopaedia of Indian Food’, it may rather stand for Banana, Black Salt, or Bread. At the ninth Serendipity Arts Festival being held in Panaji, Goa, Mani has featured a brief sample of her extensive work on the walls and on the tables at the Directorate of Accounts building.

Two posters showing letters A and B with pictures of respective ingredients and preparations act as visual prompts for curious visitors to start asking questions, telling stories and breaking into a smiles looking at a food familiar to their region.

Artist, Priya Mani said, "Everyone I have met has something to share. So invariably it’s a conversation about food. The workers who are working here in this and are helping out with the show actually, have been excited about looking at these images and they come up and tell me different things."

Apart from the imagery in the corridor, Mani has set up an audio-visual project that is yet to be named. The curious project unravels visually stunning shots of different spices and food items, like wheat, black pepper, rice, and ginger.

The moment an orb filled with an ingredient is placed in a receptacle, a montage of short videos starts projecting on the walls, showing the ingredient from its microscopic details to its macro photographs, the process of its cultivation and how it reaches its destination as part of preparation.

The Serendipity Arts Festival, which started on December 15, will come to an end on December 22.