Method in the Madness - an Indo - Japanese animation funda

Method in the Madness

Method in the Madness - an Indo - Japanese animation funda

27 June 2014 05:00PM

In this special Funda, brought to you in collaboration with Japan Foundation, we took a joint Indo-Japanese plunge into the world of animation! Saigo No Shudan is a young Japanese artist collective that creates videos using hand-painted animation and stop motion. Professor Sehkar Mukherjee through his work at Ahmedabad's National Institute of Design, interacts with young Indian animation artists who are constantly working on innovative projects. 

Through their joint presentation at this Funda, they gave us a deeper understanding of the techniques and the various methods that are involved in what may seem like madness or abstraction in the world of animation. Their presentation included clips and stills of the works of young animation artists both in Japan and India, and explored how they relate to one another.

About the presenters
Saigo No Shudan is a creators' collective that was formed at the Tokyo University of the Arts in 2009. Their original works bear several motifs drawn from folktales and they use materials like old group photographs, secondhand books, toys, paintings etc in creative ways. Being awarded the New Face Award for Entertainment Division at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2014, their video work has been shown internationally. Ayumu Arisaka, Ren Kohata and Mai Oita are the members of the collective.

Professor Sekhar Mukherjee has been heading the Animation department at Ahmedabad's National Institute of Design (NID) since 2003. He is on the editorial team of 123 Animation – an Interdisciplinary Journal. He has been a juror and speaker at various animation festivals worldwide. Professor Mukharjee has also been artistically directing a young biennial Student International Animation & Comic Festival from NID, called Chitrakatha, since 2007.