First time in India, the largest attendance ever from

a diverse group of those keen on semiotics | Mumbai 2018

4 intensive days at multiple venues: the Chatrapati Shivaji Vastu Sangrahalay (formerly Prince of Wales Museum) in downtown Mumbai, a walking tour of Lower Parel that culminated at the Rise Center and workshops at the trendy DY Office – over 97 attendees, a record for Semiofest and an event that helped to enlighten many interested in semiotics, in the Sub-Continent. 25 presentations, 2 great keynotes, a consumer safari, a panel on Fake News, a workshop on Indian condiments, cocktails, Bollywood dancing and some client immersions.

Some highlights from Semiofest Mumbai 2018

A short film with some testimonials and a flavour of the atmosphere at the Chatrapati Shivaji Museum – edited by DY Works.

In terms of academic collaboration, Seema Khanwalker, India’s first academic- commercial semiotician was on the selection committee for papers. And Prof. Harmony Siganporia of MICA presented a paper. Prof. Carlos Scolari was a keynote speaker at Semiofest for the second time; he shared the ideas that he has captured in his recent book in Spanish, The Laws of the Interface. And Prof. Karen Cham from Britain spoke about her work in the intersection between semiotics and neuroscience.

 

There was a wide range of topics and papers presented in applied semiotics, from the intersection of semiotics and cultural history to artificial intelligence and brain scan studies. From mapping changing culture in India, Russia and Latin America using the established frameworks of structural semiotics to the applications of Pierce’s concepts in uncovering the hidden insights in Instagram posts, the presentations were stimulating and engaging.

Semiofest kicked off with a training session in which Santosh Desai and his team shared their methodology for culture mapping, with guided walks around Lower Parel. And it closed with a Client training and immersion session, in which marketing and insights teams got their first taste of the powerful insights that semiotic analysis can reveal.

To know more about what happened at Semiofest 2018