Bright sunlight filters in through the large glass windows. The red brick wall and the diverse books it holds gleam in the rays. This room at The Grid feels like a well-appointed living room. Madhavan Palaniswamy (photographer), Radha Rathi (graphic designer/visual artist), Minakshi Rathi (accessory designer) and Rohith Abraham (music composer) sit here, with their laptops and note pads, putting in an honest day’s work. Radha walks to the pantry and returns with coffee and samosas for the rest. And between mouthfuls of the crunchy snack, they start conversing like old friends, even though they just met each other here a fortnight ago.
The Grid, a new creative co-working art space and cultural venue, is spread over 3,300 square feet and two floors. Art adorns the walls of this elegant 1970s bungalow, that’s been given a modern facelift. A six-foot terrarium by Shaun Dsa occupies pride of place on the ground floor. A massive re-purposed wooden community table with waste beams in different colours created by Vincent Roy also jostles for attention. Other works include a mural by Sameer Kulavoor, Sakura pen drawing by JC Vaz, art by Parul Gupta, Pushpamala N, Nandita Kumar, Harsha Biswajit, Srinath Iswaran and sculpture by Claymen.
The space, started by artist and cultural producer Justine de Penning, aims to bring together people from varied disciplines, so there can be an exchange of powerful ideas. “Traditionally, it is believed that going to work is mundane and more like a chore. I wanted to create a space where people are inspired, without the notion of work being work,” says Penning.
Since 2003, this charming house with a pink bougainvillea tree, has belonged to Penning’s family. Now, as a co-working space that can accommodate 38 people, it has two conference rooms, four rooms to work from, an open terrace with colourful seating, a community garden, kitchens, and five bathrooms — each following a different theme. As for favourites, it’s tough choosing between the Moroccan tiled one and the one with metallic tiles and a mirror on the ceiling on the rooftop. Penning has carefully curated the interiors with artefacts from Peru to London, and down South. There’s also a bright green trunk that had its moment in the limelight a prop on That ’70s Show.
Penning also plans to organise live jam sessions, slam poetry, book clubs and game nights. Her collection features unusual board games, like Risk. “I was playing it the other night. It took my friend and me a few hours to figure it out. It’s one of the most complicated games, but so much fun,” says Abraham, as the others plan to sit down for a game post work.
“This is a universally lovable place and I always get better ideas when I work from here,” says Minakshi, as she soaks in the peace on the terrace. “I love taking breaks between work and staring at the trees. Every space is well-thought-out here. Slow living experiences are beginning to happen out of this place,” says Radha, who works out of here regularly and even has her fixed space that she guards zealously.
As for Abraham, much of whose work happens in a studio with no windows, this is a treat to his senses, and he makes sure all his non-music work is done here. “Talking of ideas, sometime back I invited a bunch of musicians to The Grid. They didn’t know each other and they jammed together and from that we got new ideas,” he says. “We get a lot of stuff done here, but, there are also days when we are chewing each others’ brains,” laughs Radha. By the looks of it, today is one such day.
The Grid is located at Old Number 8, New Number 14, Kesava Perumal Puram, RA Puram, and is open from 8 am to 8 pm. For details, call 9884055691.
