in which we introduce the complex idea of ornamentation
What makes up your identity? Is it culture, tradition, and aesthetics? Or is it religion, faith, and rituals? Is it ideas and concepts? Or is it your habits, fitness levels and fashion? Most likely, it is all of the above.
For many of us, how we dress and what we wear is part of our identity, even if we belong to the group that says: “I don’t wear any jewellery.”
Often, what we think of as beautiful...
In Japan, the nape of the neck is considered the most beautiful part of the body, hence the kimono always showed off the graceful arc of the neck.
In China, a woman’s eyebrows had to be shaped like curving willow leaves and her lips like the petal of a rosebud.
India and Greece, ancient cultures both, valued symmetry. A round face with evenly spaced features.
Japan valued asymmetry, transience, the patina of age, what they called wabi-sabi.
Today, thanks to global trade and the influence of pop culture, we live in a world that author F. S. Michaels calls “Monoculture,” where one dominant idea takes over the world. This leads to shrinking diversity and uniformity.
From regional to global
The question is: as India grows economically and people travel all over the world, will we lose the dazzling diversity of our jewellery traditions?
Will we become a jewellery monoculture? I hope not.
Jewellery, even the simplest piece is rooted in spirit, self and faith.
Whether it is the specific shapes of the rings that people wear on their fingers, or the types of armlets, necklaces and earrings, Indian jewellery bedazzles in its range and its specificity to geography and history.
To lose that would be tragic.
A crown represents a kingdom
Listen to Deep Kailey, a creative director from London talk about what her kada means to her.
Jewellery, like perfume, is seen as an expression of self; a bolster to the spirit; a reflection of the soul.
