“Gandhi & Design”
Celebrating the wisdom of wholeness.
“Healing Through Bamboo Music”
What is this course meant to do?
The intention of the workshop is to experience the process of self healing. It will teach us the importance of inner peace, of it’s interrelation with music. We will learn to produce music with bamboo instruments that we ourselves will create.
OUR MENTORS:
Edgar Balansi Banasan from Philippines
Edgar is a master bamboo craftsman, an instrumentalist, musician, performer, composer and lecturer.
Pravinsinh K Solanki
Pravinsinh K. Solanki teaches Furniture & Interior Design at the National Institute of Design. He has a special interest in bamboo furniture and is the coordinator of Bamboo Initiatives at NID.
Master Craftsmen – Rajeev from Kerala
and Ranjit from NID R&D campus, Bangalore.
Workshop support – Sridharan
Day One started with us writing down what our expectations from the course are. It was so that our mentors could understand what we wanted and help us do as much justice as we can to our goals in this short duration of 2 weeks.
Once that was over, we prepared to meditate in groups. We were partnered up to understand how energies worked, how they can be contained within ourselves to reach a peaceful equilibrium. Meditation helped us center and prep ourselves for the exciting tasks and the bustle that lay ahead of us.
After that the real fun started. We were asked to go out in the campus and within 20 minutes collect any material we could make an interesting sound with. Once we were back we were divided into groups of 5-6 and expected to compose music from them. It was amazing to see the kinds of things we returned with. Some had a broom and a bucket, others had different kinds of stones while yet others who had dried leaves and stems and of course stalks of bamboo. Some even had pieces of metal. The process of making music was extremely interesting as well. We all learnt how to sync in with each other and understand each others pulse.
After the break, we learnt about the many benefits of bamboo and why it is known as Green Gold. How sustainable it is and the history as well as the new advancements in bamboo. We also learnt about the different tools that we can use to cultivate bamboo and about the different kinds of species.
I hope the bamboo virus will spread. — Edgar Balansi Banasan
It was at the end of the lecture that we were told we were to make our own tools. So this is a three tier process. You will need the music to heal for which you will need the instruments and to make these you will need your tools.
The process is important. — Pravinsinh K Solanki
We spent the next few hours splitting, skinning, cutting and weaving the bamboo. As we concluded our day and left to look for raw material for our respective tools, we can’t help but look forward in excitement.
Healing Through Bamboo Music 