The Magic Bird
SPRMRKT
The show started with a presentation by Sue Yian Quek, founder and publisher of The Magic Bird collection of children’s books. Magic Bird’s profits are channeled towards social projects, which it calls Wisdom Clubs, that benefit kids with no opportunity to read. Since 2012, Magic Bird has donated over 26,000 books, built 17 reading spaces and conducted multiple reading programmes through its Wisdom Clubs.
The exhibition featured original collages on hand-textured sheets from the children’s book of the same title written by Ken Spillman. Malavika’s approach to making the collages mirror the book, which she says is about “the core yearning in us to learn, grasp and respond to the occurrences outside of us. And how reading, literacy, vocabulary and articulation equips a mind for expression, constantly letting us know how expansive the universe around is.” As such, her works are layered with paper to give depth, distance and flight, and rooted in very organic typography so as to appear gentle and uplifting.
Malavicka PC
Malavika PC completed her Bachelors in Fine Arts from Department of Industrial Design in Ceramics from Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai. She has worked with various organisations as graphic designer, illustrator, art director and writer. Her illustrations have been published by Duckbill Publications, Blaft Publications, Sahitya Akademi, Himal South Asian, Times of India and Time Out Bengaluru among others. This multifaceted artist has participated in solo and group shows in Tamilnadu, Pondicherry and Bangalore and has written extensively for almost all major English dailies and journals. Trained in Adishakti, she has also conducted radio and television shows and acted in plays. She has worked with IFA grantees Perch, and Anushka Meenakshi for the U-Ra-Mi-Li project. For this project it is significant to note that she has conducted a notable number of workshops with children in various parts of the country over the last five years and was a member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, India.
