Taboo

Human beings are helpless in hostile nature from the very early civilization. Human being had to depend and believe on certain natural phenomenon. The enormous power of natural events had to be respected. Hence, the introduction of symbol and worshiping them in the form of taboo became evident. The psychological dependence helped human being to survive. However, in the modern days the same taboo has taken different shapes and stylization. The urban taboo is prevailing through fashion, household products and practices.

The term comes from the Tongan word tabu, meaning set apart or forbidden, and appears in many Polynesian cultures. In those cultures, a tabu (or tapu or kapu) often has specific religious associations. In the modern world designers have extensively conducted research and articulated on relationship between culture, taboo and art and design. Psychologically mourning (plate 3) related to grief, death and sadness that obviously reject the choice of colorful environment. Departed soul has left the colourful earth and to show the solidarity with the soul, in most cases white or black is the preferred colors.  In most cases it swings between either ‘white’ or ‘black’. Interestingly in the northern part of India women would symbolically put on dark-brown color clothing for mourning.  Hence, as long as human civilization survives taboo (social) would continue to leave in different form. From the Primitive Cultures human beings have created in support of social need and for the purpose of survival. From the ancient time, the expression of taboo is conceived with the help of visual language. In modern days social taboo may exist in fashion design to architecture to gastronomy in various ways.

Plates3 Japanese Funeral arrangement	Widow	Queen Victoria, 1879	Mourning- Hindu

(Source:http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=Color+in+Funeral&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1350&bih=559&um=1&ie=UTF-&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=Uv_VT_OPO4a4rAfi8938Dw ; June 11, 2012)