The conceptualization, design, and development of ‘Ek Bagal Mein Chand Hoga Ek Bagal Mein Rotiyan’ — an artist book-archive featuring 13 recipes from the Koli communities in and around Bombay — has been undertaken by Parag Tandel. This project is produced by TARQ, Mumbai.
Operating under The Tandel Fund of Archives, Parag Tandel focuses on supporting socially engaged ethnographic archives and a pop-up museum dedicated to the Koli (Fisherfolk) community of Mumbai. Tandel, along with TARQ, approached us with the idea of preserving and archiving 13 recipes, accompanied by 16 graphite drawings, in the form of an artist book.
Drawing inspiration from the visual style and colour palette of official archives in India, we opted for a deep maroon and grey colour scheme reminiscent of a 'government style' folder with a locking system. The hardbound roll-fold cover of the book features laser-cut details, offering a glimpse of the interior print. The cover design cleverly plays with words and images based on the book's title ‘Ek Bagal Mein Chand Hoga Ek Bagal Mein Rotiyan’ (On One Side Lies The Moon, On The Other Lies The Bread).
Inside, the book presents handwritten and scanned recipes, along with introductory notes by each of the 13 Koli women written in Devanagari script. Additionally, it includes poems by Tandel and 16 graphite drawings, scanned and printed on 100% cotton paper.
Each book is accompanied by a translation notepad, perfect bound, serving as a functional recipe book. The translations are painstakingly hand-typed using typewriters, adding a unique touch with typewriter smudges and correction pen stains. We have produced a limited edition of 25 unique books only.
Team Bombay Duck Designs:
Zeenat Kulavoor, Swapnil Sawant, Dnyanesh Patale, Eshita Zaveri and Sarah Kulavoor.
Research, compilations, drawings by Parag Tandel
Published by TARQ
Printed by Reproscan
Typewritten by Sudhakar Ji, Dhumal Ji, and Sunny Ji.
2022