“Tradition, skill, and heritage: how we love them, forget about them, and turn them on their heads for jaw-dropping, utterly original and perfectly fitting-in art and design you can admire forever,” candidly quotes Srila Chatterjee, co-founder and curator of Baro Market and 47-A. For India Design ID 2025, Chatterjee curatorially explores the Indian realm of art, craft, and design, which she fears may soon be overlooked or forgotten. Although awestruck by the craft and craftsmanship in this country, Chatterjee claims the human hands steeped in skills have come down centuries. She examines that the patronage of these skills would soon kill them, fearing that patrons often conform to a few masterpieces, create a fuss about old and traditional formats, and leave little to no room for the growth of the vast majority of craftspeople.
INDIA BY DESIGN plays into this wealth of skill, pushes it to think anew, evolves, and brings fresh ideas that mingle with the timeless craft that translates into products and designs so appealing that everyone “WANTS” them. The exhibit underlines that it is more than tradition and heritage, as most designers take these concepts for granted anyway. Instead, it limelights the design itself—beguiling audiences to fall in love with them—for hook, line, and sinker.
The exhibit, INDIA BY DESIGN, urges us to pause and pay attention to all that is crafted by many hands from various corners of the country. Some are performed through the studied evolution of a traditional craftsperson, some through a collaboration between traditional craft and contemporary design, and others through an inspired designer using traditional craft to bring design to life. Factors—simple factors—that make the design in India unique and what you can live with every day.
INDIA BY DESIGN is more than just a nostalgic walk down Indian history; it is an active nudge by Srila Chatterjee to fight oblivion, condemn amnesia and remember our rich heritage.
Some of the featured artists and art pieces part of this exhibition are:
- Ziya Tarapore: In The Darkness Look For The Light
Medium: Paper sculpture and acrylic paint on canvas. - Venkat Raman Singh Shyam: Circle of life
Medium: Acrylic on canvas - Ladakh Art Palace: White Tara Thangka
Medium: Acrylic on fabric - Sanjay Chitara : 64 Yoginis
Medium: Natural pigments on cotton fabric - Achira Basu and Swarup Dutta: Emotional Atyachar Board Game
Medium : Vintage Kantha, cloth, foam & MDF board - SHED by Priyanka Shah: Munim Desk and Chair
Medium: Wood, Brass, Lime, Stone, Paperclay - Ajay Shah Design Studio: The Table That Almost Wasn’t
Medium: Aluminium - Julie Kagti: Reflections Of The Black Moon
Medium: Cotton fibres, banana fibre, cotton cloths, metal and glass beads, Job’s tear millet beads, wooden frame. - The Vernacular Modern: MATSYA SANDHAR
Material: Indian Walnut, Ply, Veener & miscellaneous solid wood inlay - Banoo Batliboi: Biblio Blue Angel
Medium: Photograph on Hahnemuhle archival paper. - Khalid Amin Khatri: Allegory – I
Medium: Natural dyes on canvas - Shakil Khatri: Ludic Composition
Medium: Batik on silk - Ramesh Marwada: Fractals
Medium: Kharad weaving, with hand-spun wools made from sheep and goat hair. - Amolakh: Bench
- Laltu Chitrakar and Tagar Chitrakar : Durga
Medium: Natural pigments on paper
Pushing the Envelope of Art and Design
INDIA BY DESIGN, a Special Project exhibit exclusively curated by Srila Chatterjee, will be showcased at India Design ID 2025 from 20 to 23 February 2025 at NSIC Grounds, Okhla, New Delhi. Book your tickets here.
