Why you should check out these sci-fi-inspired 'humalien' creatures and their futuristic jewellery made by Pearl Academy students

The movie Avatar imagined for us how humans travelled to another planet to understand, co-exist with and eventually attempt to dominate an indigenous alien. It made us believe there's life beyond this galaxy. The human-alien unison has always been an interesting area of research in science and also in movies.

Dragonalien by Riya Gangwal

And for students as well, apparently. An innovative project initiated by students of Pearl Academy Jaipur aims to work with the same idea and six students have created their own versions of humaliens with their own futuristic jewellery. Their entire project has been inspired by fantasy beings, aliens, sci-fi and extra-terrestrial accessories that can be both alluring and intriguing.

The final year postgraduate students at Pearl began this project in 2019 and it took them quite a bit of time to complete. "We created a species which is an amalgamation of human and alien, we selected fictional characters or tribes from various corners of the world to create our own humaliens. Each student made their own humalien. We started off by creating our own client as we would do for any other project and then went about creating sustainable jewellery for the humalien. All the jewellery is futuristic in terms of design and has been made using waste materials, wooden carvings, body modifications and tattoo art," says Preeti Rakhyani, one of the students at Pearl, who was a part of the project.

Neckpiece with the digital gun used as a locket for Preeti's Electrolian

Preeti's own creation is inspired by an intelligent tribe in Kenya called the Kikuyu Tribe. "They use paint on their faces and body in order to separate themselves from others. They wear clothing called shukas. These are large square pieces of cloth coloured in red and blue. These they would fling over their bodies and tie around the neck or over the shoulder," explains Preeti. Her humalien is named Electrolian as it has telekinetic power to read minds, the power of pre-cognition and a screen on the back of the body. The jewellery is made using scrap pieces of metal. "The jewellery for my humalien is also hi-tech as every piece has a different ability to communicate with other beings via their bracelet, rings, chest shield, armlet and a face mask called an electro mask," adds Preeti.

Riya's Dragonalien with body extensions

Riya Gangwal's inspiration for her humalien was ONI, a kind of demon, ogre, or troll found in Japanese folklore. "They are typically portrayed as giant figures with one or more horns growing out of their heads. In folklore, they are said to be red, blue or white in colour, wearing loincloths of tiger pelt, and carrying iron weapons. Through this project, I wanted to portray how Oni would be in today's world and their existence in our future. My humalien is named Dragonaliens and it also has tattoos on its body parts. Their jewellery is made out of waste materials in the form of body extensions and modifications," she added.

 Hand Cuff with plant for breathing for Toshi's Anamelia

Another student, Toshi Singh Choudhary's humalien, Anamelia, has a futuristic yet realistic approach wherein it has a handcuff with real plants in them to help people breathe. "It is developed to be futuristic and provide oxygen through the jewellery as there is already a shortage of oxygen around the world and mother earth is being destroyed with the killing of plants and animals and clearing out forests and their natural habitats. My humalien will be able to survive by itself with its futuristic jewellery," he says.