DISPLAY

The object is the script. A script is the visual element in a language. Therefore:

A: The idea behind this is to project the scripts on a large scale,rather than view it 'book' size so the viewer gets a real feel of its visual language. Malayalam is a particularly visual script - being curvy and rounded in nature.

A glass prism is used to project the evolution of the Malayalam script from the Brahmi Script to the Grantha Script. Each face of the prism has one of the scripts. The prism rotates, projecting one face in succession - so one sees only one script at any given time and is not overwhelmed by three over sized projections. The prism is rotated mechanically after certain lapses in time.

Along with this, I thought I would include an audio track. Each person would be handed a set of headphones. The audio element is a conversation in Malayalam. The voice of a script is if not more, then equally important as its visual identity.

a: The next thing is interactive. Usually when one is introduced to a new language, one wants to see what your name looks like in that language. Hence, here the guides will write out your name in Malayalam.

B: This is a display panel showing images of Malayalam today. It is a sort of collage of newspapers, signage, popular movie posters, art by artists who incorporate the Malayalam script in their work. This is to show the contemporary usage of the script, and how it is different from the austere form it was given when it was born.

C: The next part of the display is a glass cased table with ancient manuscripts, written on palm leaves along with the tool kit used for writing on the leaf. These manuscripts are extremely old and brittle and cant be place in a manner where they can be touched by the public or will be exposed to the elements of nature.

b: This is a demonstration of 'writing' on a palm leaf. It is an effort to promote a disappearing skill. Things were not written in the true sense on the leaf but scratched out with the help of a stylus. It was done while standing, walking etc, since one did not need a support like a table while writing. The palm leaf was held in the left hand, while the stylus was in the right. The people who wrote like this were able to write as fast as you and me would with a pen and paper.