Today, in an interview, I was discussing the meaning of Kitsch and how the word ‘expression’ has sailed through times to what it means today. Art is the most volatile medium of expression. Colours and forms say so much more than words explicitly ever could. Because words are meant to speak but it is hard to make inanimate objects and colours talk.

At the recently concluded fashion extravaganza, Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, I showcased a line inspired from imagery of the streets — mainly through street typography and scrap.

Undoubtedly, Kitsch formed the core of the interpretation. Now, the interview revolved around whether Kitsch really has any future or are people just riding the tide of the so- called fad at its crest.

I strongly feel Kitsch is a beautiful, free-spirited expression of the self. It is a mood orienting form of art.

This form of art has been around for decades. It has stayed around us lurking in corners, peeping through peepholes of a few creative minds but only now it is getting its due in mainstream art and related fields. In the world of Kitsch, freethinking is applauded. Kitsch has a mind of its own. It is an art. The beauty of art lies in the fact that it does not fade like music does as soon as it is born. In fact, it endures.

Art preserves the transient beauty of mortals and is endowed with the permanence greater than the works of nature. For these are the slaves of time.

Even when death has destroyed nature’s original, painting and art preserves the image of divine beauty because the image of divine beauty exists — exists in our fertile minds.

The existence of these images is not transient and short lived. We keep filling in new colours to each interpretation day after day.

I feel Kitsch has caught up really fast in the past few years. In fact, it is at its full bloom. People are very receptive today of its colours and strong bold statements. Finally, I see it being welcomed into homes in a larger perspective than just on knick-knacks like note books, bags and pen stands.

Kitsch for me is a whole revolution of sorts, which I have been discovering and rediscovering. Right from the time of Andy Warhol to the present-day canvas, we have seen this genre of art evolve and yet retain its original essence.

It is astonishing to note how, with so much ease, the same concept that was set in early 1950s on American terrain has taken such a desi twist on our Indian format

. Of course, Kitsch in essence is the reflection of the colloquial art in a much cooler way than perceived otherwise.

But having said this, it is amazing to note how the same idea that was born years ago on American ground has taken such a comfortable spot in our lives. Now, more than ever before, we see it all around us. And specifically for me, I may not imagine myself in the world of art or design without my canopy of Kitsch!