東京藝大ロゴ webサイト

TURN workshop in INDIA 2024

—

in

TURN-inspired Program at NID Ahmedabad in India

This TURN-inspired project at the National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad campus in India was part of NID’s International Open Elective program, which Tokyo Geidai joined as part of an Inter-University Exchange project.

The theme for this year’s International Open Elective was “Cultures of Care.” Building on TURN’s exchange program with an elderly care facility in Poland in 2019, we proposed a workshop that would serve as a catalyst for future TURN activities. The proposal was one of 30 programs selected from 170 applications from around the world.

Fifteen NID students and three Tokyo Geidai students joined the two-week course. Centered on ceramic art and clay work led by artist Taro Takaoka, participants created “molds” as a medium for communication with elderly people. Through exchange activities with three elderly care facilities, the “molds” transformed, giving birth to numerous original tools. The atmosphere became more relaxed with each visit and led to meaningful interactions between students and the elderly.

Toward the end of the program, an exhibition was held at NID to share the experience with other programs and the general public.

For students who had never before visited an elderly care facility, visits began with surprise and sadness, but by the end, both sides voiced their hope to continue the activities in the future. The project deepened the participants’ thinking about care spaces not just as places where people receive support, but also places where individuals thrive in their everyday lives through communication with others.

Venue: National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad campus, India
Dates: December 9-21, 2024

Exchange partner: Matrudham Vrudhhaasham, Shree Maniben Tribhuvan Matragruh, Vatsalya Senior Citizen Home

Exhibition venue: Board Room 1, National Institute of Design

Exhibition dates: December 19-21, 2024

Artist Taro Takaoka giving a clay workshop, standing on the left in an orange T-shirt and explaining how to prepare the clay, while residents of an elderly care facility in India sit in a row on the right, watching closely.
Students from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, and elderly participants knead clay in their hands, feeling the texture as they work.
An elderly participant presses a mold into a clay slab, while a student supports it with a hand under the board.
Two clay slabs, each about 20 cm square, sit on a board. They show impressions of butterflies and plant motifs made with original handle stamps created by students, with the stamps placed beside them.
Students listening to elderly participants in a small group.
A variety of stamps in different materials and shapes used to make impressions in clay slabs, including wooden sticks and feather-shaped forms.
Elderly woman pressing a door-handle-based stamp into a 20 cm clay slab in a 3-by-3 grid, with another woman watching.
Elderly woman and student smiling while examining stamped patterns in clay.
University exhibition at the end of the program, with many stamped clay slabs on display and two visitors talking while viewing them.
University exhibition at the end of the program, with students looking closely at many stamped clay slabs.
Program and project information posters displayed at the exhibition entrance.
Steps for making a 20 cm square clay slab from a lump of clay.
Photo display documenting the clay workshop process, showing elderly participants and students.
A variety of stamps used to make impressions in clay slabs, including a pestle, handles, triangular forms, and carved plant motifs, arranged as original tools that differ from typical stamp designs.