”Art is never finished, only abandoned.”, rightly said by Leonardo Da Vinci, it holds for so many art and crafts around the world. Ganjifa, a traditional craft that once thrived during the 16th and 17th centuries, has now been wiped out and only practiced in certain parts of Orissa. Ganjifa, an art and also a popular card game stands out with it’s mythological motifs and detailed hand illustrations.
When working on Ganjifa, the most amazing feature was the use of traditional Indian motifs to denote the numbers and suits, and also the fact that these cards were circular. They were also made in a rectangular format other than the circular ones. I have tried to take the features of the cards and mold them in a contemporary look that makes it quirky and trendy for the 21st century people.
