Mumbai-based teenager Rudritara Shroff has curated Art For Baby, a one-of-a-kind book for newborns that uses only the colors white, black, and shades of gray, since newborns can only process these three colors in the first three months of their life. The book, featuring artwork by fifteen contributing artists, curates a visually enriching experience for newborns in the first few months of their life, which is a critical time for their cognitive development.
Inspiration for the book came from a similar project by Outset UK, an arts-based charity that published and auctioned the first edition of Art For Baby in 2008. For the 2024 edition, Shroff partnered with Outset UK and reached out to fifteen artists who contributed their artworks.
The featured artists are Dhruvi Acharya, Jyoti Bhatt, Jyotsna Bhatt, Jogen Chowdhury, Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, Shilpa Gupta, N.S. Harsha, Bijoy Jain, Reena Saini Kallat, Shakuntala Kulkarni, Manish Nai, Amol K. Patil, Gigi Scaria, and Sudarshan Shetty.
[Watch the video here]
“My aim is to offer a new generation of children the same visual awakening that so enriched my own childhood, using the striking contrasts and intricate designs of contemporary Indian art to stimulate early cognitive development,” said Shroff. The artworks were on display at Christie’s in Mumbai, Delhi, London and New York, following which they were auctioned online as part of the South Asia Modern and Contemporary Sale in March.
Outset UK and UNICEF India are collaborators on this project, and all proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to children’s welfare projects in India. The book will be available to buy in July 2024.
