Matchbook!

Shahid Datawala, V. Geetha

Sold in every road-side booth, matchboxes are part of daily life in India. Whimsical and hilarious, matchbox labels come in a staggering variety of designs. Inspired variations on successful labels are an accepted part of the matchbox world, deliciously turning the whole notion of branding upside down. Matchbook showcases over 500 quirky members of this extended family, from the personal collection of Mumbai based designer Shahid Datawala. A perceptive essay places them in the context of popular art traditions, labour ethics and business history.

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Weight	300 g
Dimensions	160 × 120 mm
ISBN	978-93-80340-19-7
Pages	196
Printing	Offset-printed
Binding	Paperback- Slipcase

Brain Pickings

Indian matchbox labels … singular and culturally distinctive...demand attention as standalone objects of fixation.

Design Week

Colourful and curious.

Homegrown

…these matchboxes stand for a whole lot of things in this country’s timelines over the last five decades.

Shahid Datawala

Shahid Datawala is a designer, photographer and obsessive collector of all manner of curios, and is well known in design circles in India and Europe. He can often be spotted trawling the street markets of Indian cities from where, among other things, he has managed to accumulate thousands of matchbox labels. His is the proud owner of a collection which is one of the most enviable in the country. Click here to discover his other Tara Books.

V. Geetha

A writer, translator, social historian and activist, V. Geetha is a freelance editor and a leading intellectual from Tamil Nadu, India. She has been active in the Indian women’s movement since 1988, organizing workshops and conferences. Geetha has written widely, both in Tamil and English, on gender, popular culture, caste, and politics. Click here to discover her other Tara Books.