Syed Fakruddin Huseni

Syed Fakruddin Huseni is a Bangalore-based visual artist. He is a resource person for Kali Kalisu workshops for training teachers. He is a Sanjhi artist, trained in the art of paper stenciling practiced across Mathura and Vrindavan. He has been conducting workshops for children across Karnataka. He also has a collection of over 30,000 matchboxes. This grant enables him to engage fifth grade students at the Government Model Higher Primary School, Hongasandra, Bangalore to use the matchbox as a medium to understand diverse concepts and set up a matchbox museum in the school.

Since their invention, matches have been one of the most ubiquitous consumer products in the world. By the very nature of their packaging, they have facilitated the widest range of graphic design and artistry. The early match industry was characterised by exponential growth in demand. The number of producers increased, and fierce competition ensued. Functional quality was, to a large extent, uniform, and therefore graphic and typographic design became an essential part of the product’s marketing. Designs evolved from being a simple notation of the manufacturer’s name and location, to the use of unrelated objects as brand symbols with brand-specific design elements, often but not always, influenced by the contemporary design styles. The chosen subjects often reflected the aspirations of society of that region during a particular time.

Huseni’s attempt is to make students understand the relevance of matchboxes and become collectors as they grow up. He will work with the students to understand the various aspects of matchboxes such as its geographical journey, design, typography and the purposes of those designs used in different situations. He will invite matchbox collectors to interact with the students and in the process the children will also learn to design their own matchboxes. At the end of the grant period, Huseni is planning to put up an exhibition of the collections of matchboxes and the students’ own designs. There will also be a matchbox museum put up in the school.

The deliverables from this project to IFA will be photographs and video documentation of the project.

This grant is made possible with support from Citi India.