On January 11, artist, sustainability consultant, and NYSID Faculty Member Seema Lisa Pandya mingled with tastemakers and art collectors at the opening of her first art show in her ancestral home of India. It was called  “Spanda: Reverberations of the Cosmos.”  She was also surrounded by her NYSID community: students, as well as NYSID Dean and VP for Academic Affairs Ellen Fisher, Associate Dean Daniel Harper, and Coordinator for Blended and Online Learning Freya Van Saun. Panday’s solo show, at Kamalnayan Bajaj Gallery, corresponded with the final leg of NYSID’s recent two-and-a-half week Study Abroad course to multiple cities in India, an extraordinary journey Ms. Pandya co-taught with her uncle, the famous Indian architect and sustainable design expert Yatin Pandya. 

Waste Becomes Art  

Pandya’s show was a lesson in adaptive reuse and cultural connection. During the time Pandya spent four years studying traditional Indian percussion, she noticed that the heads of the tablas, traditional South Asian percussion instruments played with the hands, were being changed out after years of use. No one wanted to throw them away, but there was no use for these heads. She didn’t want them to become waste, she says, because she felt, “The materials were imbued with rhythmic magic and touch.” She collected them, and a concept began to form. She visualized the polyrhythms of traditional Indian music in her mind as sculptures made out of the tablas, translating ideas of sound forms into space. She says, “Spanda, is etymologically derived from the root, spadi, which means movement, motion, or vibration. Spanda manifests itself in everything. . . Everything that is material vibrates, and is a form of energy.”

NYSID AAS student Grace Dowd says, “The show opened my eyes further to the importance of materiality in art, especially after much of our trip had focused on the power and importance of craft within Indian history. Seema's use of tabla heads, a culturally important material, pushed me to consider the boundaries between materiality, sound, connection, experience, and culture.” 

A Glimpse Into Contemporary Indian Art 

Months ago, NYSID’s deans learned of Seema Pandya’s solo show and participation in Mumbai Gallery Weekend, and they extended the India trip to encompass the event because they recognized a rare educational opportunity. “It was amazing to hear Seema talk about this art project, and for our students to see how it came to fruition,” says Associate Dean Daniel Harper. “We got to witness how you work with potential clients and buyers: the selling side of art and design. There’s more than creating the work; there’s also putting it out there and marketing it.” He adds, “We went to many galleries. The students learned about exhibition design. The larger context of Mumbai’s gallery week was a great education in current Indian art, architecture, and design.” 

“Spanda: Reverberations of the Cosmos” was curated by Dr. Arshiya Lokhandwala

Presented by Sunaina Kejriwal.

Another Trip to India on the Horizon

Faculty member Seema Lisa Pandya teaches multiple courses at NYSID, including Introduction to Sustainability and the Built Environment in the BFA and MFA programs. She is collaborating with NYSID’s deans to design another Study Abroad experience in India for December 2024 / January 2025. If you are interested in inquiring about NYSID’s study abroad and study abroad grants, contact Associate Dean Daniel Harper:  Daniel.Harper@nysid.edu.