AAA2024 & Great India Restaurant presents
Bhoj Bhavan 2.0 by Abhi Topiwala & Bhavesh Bhuthadia

Great India Restaurant
141 Manners Street, Wellington

A semi-permanent window installation and AR experience (up for as long as its up for :)

Bhavesh Bhuthadia and Abhi Topiwala teamed up once again to build on and explore beyond the foundations of their original 2018 public artwork, 'Bhoj Bhavan' as part of AAA2018's Eat My Culture series with a new mural for Great India Restaurant.

For AAA2024, the duo revived the raw ingredients and spices that dance between architectural-henna, block printing and in the latest iteration rangoli - a mark making practice carried out all over India with names like kolam, muggu and alpana in the south and mandana, chowkpurna in the North.

With Abhi’s Masters of Design (Massey University) research into rangoli as the foundation, the new work aims to unpack, understand the rich ephemeral practice through mixed media and experimental motion graphics as an ongoing series of concepts for the public realm.

This latest work brings together the growth of the two practitioners and interlaces their continuation of navigating whakapapa, third culture as well as creative approaches to building on communicating ideas of migration, displacement, and being of the Indian diaspora. With both creatives being born in Tāmaki Makaurau to Gujarati Indian families, Bhoj Bhavan 2.0 aspires to demonstrate what can come from the colliding of seemingly similar world views, traversing different creative paths and calling Aotearoa home.

How to access the AR experience:

Using an Apple or Android device, scan the QR code found onsite or click on the following link. Please note - camera access will be requested and Android users will need to download an app.

Apple Users: Scan the link and it will load up.

Android Users: Scan the link, download Adobe app, scan QR code in Adobe Aero

Click here for detailed minimum system requirements.