Our W+K EXP gallery hosted ‘BIG NICHE,’ an exhibition of new forms of urban Indian pop culture, from April 17th-22nd.
Photo series by Bharat Sikka.
‘BIG NICHE’ featured some of the best examples of the new wave of urban Indian popular culture. The works exhibited were proof of a brand new Indian sensibility, an indicator that new ideas are not just taking root, but flourishing.
Painted trunk and shoes by Rishidev RK.
Motherland editor Annette in front of hand painted alphabets collected by Hanif Kureshi.
Exhibits included work by The Foundation Thukral & Tagra, Bharat Sikka, Little Shilpa, Play Clan, Hanif Kureshi and Extension Khirkee among many others.
At the exhibition opening.
Read more about BIG NICHE in ArtInfo’s profile of the exhibition.
Dilip Padgaonkar, former executive managing editor of the Times of India, kicks off the event.
On May 9th the ‘Incredible Tiffin’ initiative was launched by the Cuisine Society of India at an appropriately food-laden event at the ITC Maurya Hotel in New Delhi. Thisinitiative aims to classify, brand and digitally showcase the breadth of Indian cuisine – undoubtably one of the most famous exports India has given the world!
Minister of Tourism Subodh Kant Sahai, Dilip Padgaonkar, and JNU professor Puhpesh Pant
Nakul Anand, Executive Director of ITC
Using top-notch design values, carefully selected brand associations and focused social media channels, the Incredible Tiffin campaign plans to take Incredible India to the next level of nation branding – by winning the hearts, minds and stomachs of the global traveler. Subodh Kant Sahay, the tourism minister, said that he hopes the campaign will bring a “modest five million tourists” to India next year.
Nakul Anand, W+K Delhi’s V. Sunil, ITC Maurya’s senior executive chef Manisha Bhasin, Subodh Kant Sahai and Dilip Padgaonkar
We’re very proud to announce that two of our clients, IndiGo Airlines and The Oberoi, have received recognition in this year’s Lonely Planet Magazine India Travel Awards. IndiGo won Best Economy Airline – Domestic, and The Oberoi Vanyavilas in Ranthambore won Best Hotel – Wildlife Resort. Read through below for their well-deserved accolades!
The Oberoi Vanyavilas: Best Wildlife Resort 2012
IndiGo Airlines: Best Domestic Economy Airline, 2012
Motherland’s “Ghosts Issue” is hitting shelves soon and we’re drumming up a bit of excitement with a contest. We invite photographers, illustrators and anyone with a creative idea to design the cover for the upcoming issue. To participate, submit an artwork, or have your say by voting for your favourite cover from the gallery. From the submissions with the most votes, one stand-out entrant will be selected by the creative team at Motherland and Wieden+Kennedy Delhi to have their art featured on our digital issue and win a photography workshop with Canon. For more information, click through the logo above.
‘Extension Khirkee’ was a street art festival featuring works by Indian and international artists, peppered around the gullies and buildings of nearby Khirkee Extension. Curated by Aastha Chauhan, this festival was supported by Square23, Torino True, and U.R.B.E from Turin, Italy, and TinyDrops, F.I.C.A, Khoj, and W+K EXP in Delhi.
Map of the festival route.
A cat stencil guided visitors through the maze of streets, leading them to works by artists like Daku, Raw Tella, SamSam, Amitabh Kumar, Mattia Lullini, Anpu Varkey and Flora Boillot. You can see more images at the festival blog here, and get a glimpse of the route & artworks in the video below:
Our office celebrated Wieden+Kennedy’s 30th Founder’s Day – the first one to be celebrated here in India – in proper desi style. In addition to the phenomenal Malayalee food Latheesh and Reshi prepared us (see the menu here), the FDXXX mela featured:
A Bollywood dance medley, choreographed by dancer Jaimini Dave and performed by several W+Kers, who practiced for hours in the weeks leading up to the event. The star stand-out had to be Bhushan’s Salman Khan impression during the Hud Hud Dabanggfinale.
We also had a visit from an elephant, specially dressed for the occasion, who patiently hung out for a few hours as we posed for pictures with him.
Continuing the theme, we also had an elephant-topped cake…
…which we cut during a call-in from one of the founders himself, Dan, who also got to watch a repeat performance of the Bollywood medley.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Indian celebration without tons of dancing. And dance we did!
Here’s to another 30 years of failing harder. W+K, zindabad!
IndiGo is well-known and loved for their yummy food and clever packaging, which we get to have fun making! They recently added a few new items to their on-board menu, which we got busy designing containers for:
The mini dosa boxes are based on iconic South Indian udupi restaurant style.
From France to the Middle East to India, the croissant pita sandwiches have travelled the world, packaged in signature IndiGo luggage.
And finally, salads with a fun puzzle: help Maya Neej find her vegetable friends in the Bizarre Bazaar!
Flying IndiGo soon? Be sure to pick one of these up!
The menu for our office’s W+K Founder’s Day XXX celebration, featuring cuisine from the South Indian state of Kerala and prepared by our art director Rishidev RK and friend of W+K, Latheesh Lakshman, with help from chef Ramprasad. Thanks, fellows, for the fantastic food! More snippets from the W+K Delhi FDXXX are on their way.
One of our recent works out of W+K Delhi is HCL’s “The Employees First Effect.” Directed by Bharat Sikka and shot in New York City, this film is a tribute to what the company values most: its employees.
We’re also proud to announce that the film has now crossed one million views on YouTube. Have a look!
Nilanjana Bhowmick’s article on the Barefoot College from the Ecology issue of Motherland is featured in French newspaper the Courrier International today. The piece focuses on Barefoot’s work with the rural women they train to be solar power engineers in their villages. To all you Francophones out there, do take a read.