New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS): The Gujral Foundation, in association with Outset India, has commissioned a pleated pavilion titled "The Song of the Earth and the Sky" at the Sunder Nursery, New Delhi, designed by the architect and artist Ankon Mitra.

Reha Sodhi is the curatorial advisor on the project. The pavilion, which was inaugurated on February 5 will be open to the public for viewing till April 26.

It is part of the foundation's public art project - commissioning temporary pavilions by selected artists, architects and designers that will respond to different locations in India.

The Gujral Foundation completed its tenth year in 2018, which marked the beginning of the Foundation's focus into the realm of architecture and design. This began with the presentation of the India pavilion at the London Design Biennale in September 2018 and continues through various initiatives including partnerships, exhibitions, outreach, interventions and forums in both India and internationally.

In "The Song of the Earth and the Sky", Mitra seeks to create an Enso diagram, where copper of the Earth and silver of the sky meet and embrace in a meditative bliss. Architecture of the past lies strewn everywhere in the garden, lending the viewer a gem of geometry - a beautiful pointed arch. In the pavilion, the artist has multiplied the arch nine times to symbolise the nine realms. The Zen garden represents yin and yang, wind and water - two elements that connect the Earth and the sky. The multitudes of folds in origami create a single pleated song. In that moment of rhapsody, the physical garden dematerialises and like all spiritual energies, becomes the universe.

"This is an unprecedented opportunity, hopefully the beginning of an annual pavilion building project in New Delhi, comparable to the prestigious Serpentine Pavilion in London or the MoMA PS1 in New York," said Mitra.