Artistry galore at the HP India X ELLE DECOR India #IAmAChangemaker

HP India invited changemakers from across India to come together and become a part of a larger community that is bound with its shared love and passion for art and creativity. The HP India X ELLE DECOR India’s #IAmAChangemaker campaign enables artists to fuel their creative ambition, enabling a sense of unbridled imagination with the launch of its revolutionary new series of new, sixth-generation HP ZBook workstations in India. The country’s creative community converged at One Style Mile, New Delhi to celebrate the launch, organised in association with ELLE DECOR India.

The event saw full attendance of noted personalities from art, design and fashion fraternity. On being asked who would be their ideal changemaker, art curator Shalini Passi says, “I’d like to believe that a changemaker is someone who can break boundaries, norms through any medium- big or small.” Fashion designer Rina Dhaka explains, “It has to be an individual that breaks through the impossible, in any field like art, innovation or even food.”

The venue, adorned with striking installations at the networking zone, saw art—right from portrait series by photographer Nayantara Parikh, a curious installation by Sajid Wajid Shaikh and a monochrome creative zone curated by Aniruddh Mehta of @thebigfatminimalist. Taking center stage, the ingenious panel comprised of celebrated filmmaker, Zoya Akhtar, Vickram Bedi, Senior Director, Personal Systems, HP Inc.

India, Neelima Burra, Country Marketing Director, HP India, photographer Nayantara Parikh, visual artist Sajid Wajid Shaikh and Aniruddh Mehta, artist Jayesh Sachdev on the change they are making and the change that will be. The discussions, moderated by Roshan Abbas witnessed engaging conversations, quips on non-conforming topics, urging creators to think out of the box.

So what according to them is a changemaker? And what is the change that they aspire to see in their respective fields “According to me it is someone who challenges the norms, is unapologetically themselves and I’d really like to see a rise in environmental awareness while encouraging sustainable living,” says photographer Nayantara Parikh. Pushing the envelope for breaking norms is visual artist Sajid Wajid Shaikh, to him, a changemaker is “A person who is always experimenting, on the move and changing the very habitat that he/she is comfortable in, he says.

“Looking forward, like to see a bigger pool and reach of art, it being available to every person in any age group, not bound by any social conform,” he adds. It seems almost too easy to lose the creative bone in a bustling city or getting caught up with day-to-day activities. Aniruddha Mehta of @thebigfatminimalist urges otherwise, “In the future, I’d really like to see people retain their individual creativity and rather let it grow as a changemaker,” he concludes.

Exploring the significance of technology in today’s world, Hewlett-Packard organised Never Stop India, a single day entrepreneurship and design conclave, in association with ELLE DECOR India, at JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity. The event led to engaging conversations and workshops that saw participation from some of India’s leading entrepreneurs and creatives. It started with moderated discourse by Roshan Abbas, who spoke to honchos of prominent Indian startups on key points such as ‘Never Stop Dreaming’, ‘Never Stop Disrupting’, and ‘Never Stop Reinventing’.

Some discerning insights from this session included: Rajesh Magow, Co-founder and CEO India, MakeMyTrip, on Never Stop Dreaming “The journey is never going to be easy, even on the personal front. Perseverance is key. I strongly recommend that you don’t jump into entrepreneurship, if you don’t have the ability to persevere.” Anant Goel, Founder and CEO, Milkbasket, on Never Stop Disrupting“In order to grow, something must always be disrupted. The key is to identify a problem and whether it can be solved. If yes, it will make you money.” Nitin Saluja, Co-founder and CEO, Chaayos, on Never Stop Disrupting“At a macro level, investors look for opportunities and visions that they believe in, which can make money on both levels—for the company to grow as well as for their personal gain.”Leo Joseph, Senior Director – Printing Systems for HP India, on Never Stop Reinventing“HP has always been a pioneer of the culture of innovation. We pride ourselves in being an 80-year-old startup.”

Joseph went on to unveil the company’s Neverstop range of laser printers—the first-of-its-kind in India—along with senior colleagues. The afternoon shifted the focus to design and architecture, kicking-off with presentations by four Delhi-based creatives on their perspective of ‘New India’. Asha Sairam, Design Principal at Studio Lotus, spoke about contemporising craft, reinterpreting material, redressing tradition, learning from old wisdom, knowledge sharing and even celebrating clichés.

Madhav Raman, Partner at Anagram Architects, highlighted the need to understand the evolution of global politics, terrorism, environmental crises and population over the past 20 years to predict the course of good design in the future. On the other hand, Iram Sultan, Principal of Studio Strato, shared a design ‘wishlist’, hoping, among other ideas, for the revival of emotion-based architecture and design.

Finally, Manish Gulati, Founding Partner of M:OFA Studio, took us through his practice’s greatest projects over the last two decades, which have relied on technology. The event culminated with a first-ever screening in India of the documentary ‘Eames: The Architect and the Painter’. Illuminating the life and work of legendary American design duo Charles and Ray Eames, it was a treasure trove of archival materials and insights, which proved to be an inconspicuously motivating closing to the conclave.