Sacred Tech
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A collection of small charkhas (yarn-spinning wheels historically associated with Gandhi) presented in an interlocking pattern to suggest togetherness. Sacred World Research Laboratory
A group of children hold hands around the Harijan Pillar in the Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum. Sacred World Research Laboratory
Installation in the Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Musuem: a harp plays Indian freedom songs. Sacred World Research Laboratory
Almost every interface in the museum requires physical interaction. One installation appears to be a bucket of rock salt, but when visitors run their hands through it, the motion triggers a display of historical footage showing Gandhi's famous protest against the British monopoly on salt production. For an installation about Gandhi's marches, visitors move one of three "e-Pilgrim" sticks to select a march, and then walk along holding the stick, keeping in step with the famous leader. An installation titled simply "Gandhi Posture" invites the visitor to assume one of five poses associated with Gandhi's various activities. For example, when the visitor crouches down and puts one hand on the floor, the video projector plays historical footage of Gandhi discussing the importance of using local materials.
Makkuni is particularly interested in reaching out to India's villages, where traditional practices that have survived for thousands of years are in danger of being lost. The exhibition is now beginning a tour that will take it to rural areas of India, where, in some regions, literacy rates are as low as 20 percent. Bish Sanyal, who teaches development and planning at M.I.T., points out that engaging these audiences requires an ability to communicate in a familiar language. "Color is very important, and also shape," he says. "They may not understand that in order to activate a display, they need to push a button; but they have deep appreciation for craftsmanship. Ranjit's work is very inclusive, and this is an important quality in a country with over a billion people."
To create the Eternal Gandhi exhibition, Makkuni brought in 200 craftsmen from all over India to create interfaces that use traditional materials and colors. The fact that these projects are labor-intensive is part of the point. He hopes to tap into the region's "human resources" and reinvigorate village economies by proving that traditional crafts and modern technology can be combined with results that are simultaneously beautiful and functional. "Less is not always more," he says. "Ornamentation can give the individual a voice in the face of the homogenizing influence of technology." And he hopes that other organizations and companies will follow his example. "Why shouldn't Apple send its laptops to the craft villages of India, Africa, and Southeast Asia to be customized?"
By showing that traditional practices can help to inform modern technology, Makkuni is challenging the conventional wisdom of the country's elite, who often see traditional beliefs as a barrier to modernization. "The big institutions in India have a whole different agenda," says Professor Sanyal. "They too want to help society, but they tend to have a very mechanistic, economic interpretation of how to help—modernization in the Western mode. They want change. They want to move on. And there is very little room for culture."
Makkuni's current projects emphasize shared values and common traditions throughout Asian cultures. An exhibition scheduled to open in late 2007 is titled "The Magic Strings of Saraswati," after Saraswati, the goddess of arts and creativity who typically carries a stringed lute called the veena. The show traces the instrument as it spread throughout India, Burma, Korea, and Indonesia, and was adapted into instruments such as the Indian sitar and the Korean kayagum. Makkuni has traveled across Asia recording performances that will be incorporated into the exhibition and will be triggered by plucking the strings of interfaces representing the various instruments.
One of Makkuni's most ambitious proposals is "The World as Woman Temple," dedicated to celebrating female deities across cultures and religions. "Many objects—such as pots and vases—have feminine attributes," he says. "When used in interfaces, these qualities can inspire feelings of tenderness and compassion." The plan for the exhibition's centerpiece is a bamboo-lacquered sculpture, between 50 and 100 feet long, representing the universal goddess in repose. The sculpture will be decorated from head to toe with depictions of goddesses from different religious traditions.
By incorporating traditional forms and processes into his work, Makkuni hopes to preserve the irreplaceable wisdom that his country has accumulated over generations. Although outsourcing may provide jobs, Makkuni has spent enough time in the West to know that economic prosperity does not always equal inner peace. "There is a certain euphoria about the rate of development," he says. "But let's not get into the idea that technology and globalization will make us all happy and there will be no death and suffering. If you just blindly accept only these external ideas and objects and rely on them to bring you happiness, then sooner or later you are in for a surprise."
If Makkuni's work sometimes creates controversy, he doesn't seem to mind. When the Eternal Gandhi exhibition traveled to Mumbai, India's center of business and finance, Makkuni ordered a traditional mud hut built in the center of the elegant National Gallery of Modern Art. The hut is a simple shelter but rich in symbolism, and it makes efficient use of local materials—in this case, a thick coating of cow dung. "The village mud was now in the middle of a modern museum," he says, chuckling with glee. "Museums often neglect the olfactory, and now the visitors were able to enjoy this beautiful fragrance."
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