Rangoli Workshop with Indira Johnson

Photos from the Rangoli courtesy of Darlys Ewoldt, CSI Indoor Exhibitions Co-Chair

Sunday, April 28, 2024, 1 to 3pm

Rangoli is a South Asian folk art tradition, where a woman inaugurates the day by painting a pattern on the threshold of her home. This tradition is embedded in a ritual practice that is centered around the protection and well being of one’s family. Drawing Rangoli patterns, establishes a ritualistic relationship to the ground we walk on, making it sacred. This traditional ritual has its origin in the need to locate the individual within a larger universe. Similar traditions exist in other cultures including Native American and Tibetan. 

The making and participation in ritual art is a way of sharing sadhana or grace. We see this in the rituals we design around births, graduations, marriages and deaths. The act of performing those rituals is a way for us to come together to share our joy and sorrow.

Rangoli drawings are made up of symbols, meant to bring beauty and harmony, and counter the negative forces of imbalance with the positive powers of wholeness and vitality. Traditional materials that will be used include rice flour, turmeric powder, earth, and flower petals and leaves

Member Indira Freitis Johnson, has drawn Rangoli Patterns throughout the US. As she explains, “one of the goals of this project is to discover through dialog, art and ritual the commonality of our human experience, and the spiritual potential inherent in all of us.”