Buy a Plate. Fill a Plate.

Left to Right: ‘Where the streets have no name’ by Reshidev R,  ‘A Vivid Dream’ by Hana Augustine

Mumbai-based innovation collective, chlorophyll innovation lab, launched The Plated Project as a way to use art to combat hunger. Founder Chitresh Sinha says the idea occurred to him when he was out at a restaurant for a meal and the project was born in 2019. The premise is simple. The Plated Project team collaborates with NGOs and artists, with focus on a theme. The artists create limited-edition plates for sale, with proceeds going to the identified charity.  

Since its inception, The Plated Project has worked on a variety of themes. A series called ‘Red Life’ drew attention to the lives of women in Kamathipura, a red-light district in Mumbai. A series for malnutrition titled ‘A Quarter for Nostalgia,’ asked the artists to leave one-fourth of the plate empty because one in every four children in India is malnourished. 

Many well-intentioned initiatives launched as side-projects tend to peter out over time, but The Plated Project has maintained its momentum. Sinha says the reason is the thought-through division of labour.

“The lab is a very small setup, so initially it was a challenge managing a side-project with a full work schedule. We decided early on that each one of us will focus on what we are really passionate about at The Plated Project. Dhruvi, the chief curator is passionate about luxury marketing so she chose to manage all of the digital marketing aspects of The Plated Project.  Kapil, our maker-in-residence, focuses on product innovation and creating new stands and packaging. So in a way we get to spend time on what we love on this project”

Chitresh Sinha, Founder, chlorophyll Innovation labs

A Plate Full for Hope

The current series is called ‘A Plate Full of Hope’ and aims to provide 100,000 meals to migrant workers. The project team has collaborated with twenty acclaimed global artists from ten countries to create twenty limited edition art plates. Each plate depicts one emotion or experience that people have felt during the lockdown across the world.  There is a Picasso-esque figure called ‘All Tangled Up’ by Mumbai-based artist Mayur Mengle, while Istanbul-based illustrator Zenyep Ozataley has depicted children lowering food for ‘Furry Friends’ in the street. 

100% of the sale proceeds are being donated to Goonj’s Rahat initiative. Each plate’s sale sponsors two hundred and fifty meals for a migrant worker’s family. Each plate costs Rs.1450 and only a set of fifty are produced for each design. The entire sale price (and not just the profits) are donated to charity. This is made possible through sponsorship by brands such as Bajaj Electricals, IMI Mobile and The Baya Company.

The Plated Project has already sponsored over 90,000 meals.  You can sponsor one more and get a beautiful plate as a memento. Go to https://www.theplatedproject.com/ and do it now!