The Story of Manjapai
“Ordinary objects which have long been used by one master take on a sort of personality, their own face, I could almost say a soul, and the folklore of all nations is full of these beings more human than humans, because they owe their existence to people and, awakened by their contact, take on their own life and autonomous activities, a sort of latent and fantastic willfulness.”
— Paul Claudel, Meditation on a pair of shoes, Prose works, Bibliotheque de la Pléiade, 1965, p. 1243
The story of Manjappai is going to be in retrospect, it is also going to represent the story of cultural things in general. But what story can a thing have? Let’s jump into the story of things and the story in things.
The biography of a Manjapai starts from being a fresh new bag out of a grocery store, a religious event or a wedding like event. As it integrates into the life of its owner, a fresh bag is used to carry valuables such as money, jewels or gifts. As the bag wears off over the years, it is used to store vegetables, dry meat and eventually ends up on the kitchen floor and used as a waste cloth. This was the ideal life of a Manjapai. As any object does, Manjapai not only changes throughout its existence but it also accumulates histories. The present significance of an object derives from the persons and events to which it is connected.
The story of things cannot be predetermined, the meaning is constructed by us in usage, by the social interaction it is caught up in. Over time changes in meaning of an object without any change in use of physical modification of the object occurs. There is a mutual process of value creation between people and things. An essential everyday object of Tamil lives now associates a backward, disrespectful attitude to the Tamil culture as a whole. As the saying goes, “pazhayana kazhidhal puthiyana pugudhal”, we take forward the progressive attributes of our culture and leave behind outdated notions. We aim to change the present meaning of this object and in turn change what it means to be Tamil.
Objects take on supernatural attributes rather than just their use value. But we want to associate only the historical and cultural aspects of Manjapai’s past. The merit of our work does not lie just in the product itself but how the product comes about and the work we do as a collective. Hence, the value of Manjappai collective lies in work that goes before and after the sale of our product. The only aura we associate with the objects are its relation to people, both producers and consumers!
The Story
of Manjapai - The Yellow Bag
“Ordinary objects which have long been used by one master take on a sort of personality, their own face, I could almost say a soul, and the folklore of all nations is full of these beings more human than humans, because they owe their existence to people and, awakened by their contact, take on their own life and autonomous activities, a sort of latent and fantastic willfulness.”
— Paul Claudel, Meditation on a pair of shoes, Prose works, Bibliotheque de la Pléiade, 1965, p. 1243
The story of Manjapai is going to be in retrospect, it is also going to represent the story of cultural things in general. But what story can a thing have? Let’s jump into the story of things and the story in things.
The biography of a Manjapai starts from being a fresh new bag out of a grocery store, a religious event or a wedding like event. As it integrates into the life of its owner, a fresh bag is used to carry valuables such as money, jewels or gifts. As the bag wears off over the years, it is used to store vegetables, dry meat and eventually ends up on the kitchen floor and used as a waste cloth. This was the ideal life of a Manjapai. As any object does, Manjapai not only changes throughout its existence but it also accumulates histories. The present significance of an object derives from the persons and events to which it is connected.
The story of things cannot be predetermined, the meaning is constructed by us in usage, by the social interaction it is caught up in. Over time changes in meaning of an object without any change in use of physical modification of the object occurs. There is a mutual process of value creation between people and things.
An essential everyday object of Tamil lives now associates a backward, disrespectful attitude to the Tamil culture as a whole. As the saying goes, “pazhayana kazhidhal puthiyana pugudhal”, we take forward the progressive attributes of our culture and leave behind outdated notions. We aim to change the present meaning of this object and in turn change what it means to be Tamil.
Objects take on supernatural attributes rather than just their use value. But we want to associate only the historical and cultural aspects of Manjapai’s past. The merit of our work does not lie just in the product itself but how the product comes about and the work we do as a collective.
Hence, the value of Manjapai Collective lies in work that goes before and after the sale of our product. The only aura we associate with the objects are its relation to people, both producers and consumers!