Tabiyat: Medicine & Healing in India

IDENTITY • EXHIBITION DESIGN • ENVIRONMENT GRAPHICS • COMMUNICATIONS

Embracing diverse healing cultures in the sub-continent.

The exhibition Tabiyat: Medicine & Healing in India opened at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai as part of a year-long programme called Medicine Corner.

"Tabiyat" is a common Indian word for both physical and psychological health. As it is a familiar word to speakers of many local languages, we created a tri-lingual identity for the exhibition in English, Hindi and Urdu.

Complemented by photography from the exhibition and a palette inspired by medicinal Indian herbs, the graphic identity was developed across a range of publications and promotional materials.

Entry into the exhibition included a display of medicinal plants and herbs, the uses for some of which were illustrated through environmental graphics. Interpretive texts within the exhibition were also available in English, Hindi and Marathi, particularly the exhibition guide. Since the exhibition was framed around four generic locations – the shrine, the home, the street and the clinic – we developed an accordion folded guide mirroring each section of the show. A special feature of these guides, were texts about locations in Mumbai related to the exhibits, providing the audience with an opportunity to explore the exhibition's themes in the city, outside the museum space.

Photographs of the exhibition are courtesy of Anil Rane. Exhibition film commissioned by Wellcome Collection. Produced by BIND.