Banaras : The Crossing Project

We present a vision of Indian creativity and interaction design, combining traditional and modern technology. As computing technology proliferates in the world, retaining identity becomes an important value in the new millennium. Hence, the time-tested visions of developing nations and ancient living cultures can shape the form of modern information technology. The Crossing Project is a pioneering effort brining together futuristic, mobile, multimedia technology and archetypal content. With respect to technology, it questions the very form of a computing system and the Graphical User Interface paradigm. The Crossing technology presents alternate paradigms of information access, integrating the hand and the body in the act of computer-based communication and learning. With respect to design, it incorporates the expressions of traditional arts and crafts in the design of expressive information delivery devices in which technology surrenders to human hand. The Crossing Project has re-created forms that capture a civilization’s primal symbols animated through embedded technology. About the Author : Ranjit Makkuni is an international multimedia artist and designer, the honorary director of the design think tank, the Sacred World Research Laboratory, as well as a musician, sitar player, and songwriter.His multimedia museum works are intersections between traditional and modern art, design and technology, such that the results help both traditional and modern cultures. They are intended to show that the wisdom of traditional communities can positively negate the homogenizing influences of modern technology; and that the intelligence, creativity and sense of freedom afforded by modern design and technology can reciprocally help traditional artists.His major works are several museum projects: Eternal Gandhi Multimedia Museum,Planet Health Museum, The Goddess and Temples of Music, and The Crossing: Living, Dying and Transformation in Banaras. Madhu Khanna is an Indian people historian of religion and noted Tantric scholar based in Delhi. At present, she is Distinguished Fellow (2013–2014) in Asian and Comparative Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco. Until recently, she was Director for the Centre for the Study of Comparative Religion and Civilizations, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She is at present Visiting Professor of Indic Religion at the same Centre, where she teaches interdisciplinary courses in Hindu Studies. She has several books and exhibition catalogues to her credit and has contributed to three national projects, as well as several research projects for the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).