In a unique project narrating stories using space as a medium, students of National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad have dissected 13 famous childhood fairytales of Grimm Brother's. The students have not only re-read the stories including Cindrella, Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, Snowhite and many more but also analysed the original texts with the present ones and how the narratives have changed over the years.
The students found the original stories to be grim and dark as against what has been toned down over the years, making them more acceptable as per the societal norms.
The second year students of Exhibition Design have put up the exhibition 'Once Upon A Grimm', where each student has constructed an experience based on a Grimm Brother's fairy tale.
Speaking about the same, Aditi Pandit, a second year student of under graduate Exhibition Design said, "As part of the project, we had to relate the stories with our personal experiences. To our shock, we found many patriarchial issues told then, and changed over the years, but the original texts do have a connection with the present times. We are still facing partiarchial issues. The stories that we read always showed Cindrella or Rapunzel as damsels in distress."
The students not just dissected but also interpreted the stories in various forms. For example, for Snow White, in which the desperation for beauty takes stepmother to any lengths was interpreted with modern day plastic surgery. The student made a plastic surgery clinic to depict the story.
Said Jonak Das, course instructor, "Today, Tangled has taken over Rapunzel. The idea was to make students relate to their project and these fairytales were the best example. For example, Rapunzel's story that we have read no where mentions that her mother locked her in the room when she became pregnant. This project has allowed students to tell stories using a space as a medium. Despite technology and other materials, it is the story which is important for an exhibit space."
The students have exhibited all their interpretations and the stories at NID's exhibition gallery open for public.
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