Seed - Handmade Book

This handmade book is the newest title by Tara Books, released November 2023.

A seed is a miracle. It is neither alive nor dead, yet holds within itself the potential for life. When it meets the right conditions, it starts to unfurl, with a promise of plenty and the hope of regeneration.

The astonishing variety of traits that a seed holds can be looked at in terms of botany, but also through the lens of art, culture and history. But it is only by connecting these modes—bringing together science and imagination, knowing and relishing— that we can begin to grasp nature with the wonder that it deserves.

 This gorgeous handcrafted book makes these connections in two unprecedented ways. The exquisite imagery it features has been created by artists from the Warli tribe in western India. The Warlis nurture a felt kinship with nature to this day, so their art embodies rich ecological knowledge systems in an intrinsic way.

The book also connects form and meaning. Linked by short concise essays, four distinct paper forms explore a diverse set of themes: each designed to capture a particular aspect of the cosmos contained in a seed.

Hand silkscreen-printed on kraft paper, with pop-up, scroll, booklet, and foldout sections, stitched and bound within a single cover.

Mayur and Tushar Vayeda grew up and live in the village of Ganjad. They like to adapt the Warli style of painting to render new material, to bring in different ways of depiction, as well as create new meanings and symbols. They strive to keep the basic grammar of their inherited style intact and connected to its origins while adapting it to the unknown. In the process, they move their tradition forward without diluting its essence.

Gita Wolf started Tara Books as an independent publishing house based in India. An original and creative voice in contemporary Indian publishing, she is known for her interest in exploring and experimenting with the form of the book and has written over twenty books for children and adults. Several have won major international awards and been translated into multiple languages.

Tara Books, 2023, hardcover in slipcase, 10.75 x 10.5 inches, 46 pages.