“Our social identity is built quietly over years, to define our gender, body, clothing… behavior and disposition. We are compelled to live by unchallenged norms. We ‘become’ as ‘being’ is simply not enough. We don masks and armours, as we struggle with sexual, political, and religious confines. Society is not kind to rebels. They are the outcasts, the outsiders, and the mutinous,” says Swarup Dutta of his debut photography exhibition in Mumbai at ARTISANS’, Kala Ghoda.

Japanese artists Yukiko Yagi and Meguri Ichida bring the art of Urushi, traditional Japanese lacquerware, to ARTISANS’, adapted exclusively for the Indian table.

Traditional lacquerware from Japan is simple, graphic, almost stark. It is not just  luxury collectible, but demands use, inviting you to touch, to hold, to cup, to sip... The gleam of reflected light off a lacquered surface calls to the soul in search of stillness, and timelessness.

Dhanashree Kelkar is a young studio potter from Pune, who brings an artist's sensibility to her chosen material, clay.

Kedar Kelkar is a full time interior design professional based out of Pune. He has worked on a variety of projects from restaurants to office spaces to villas. Over the years he has developed passion for woodworking. His tables, salvaged from wood that would otherwise be burnt, showcase the beauty of the organic form, and are thus both functional and artistic at the same time. 

SIGNATURES presents the work of five artists that ARTISANS’ launched for the first time in Mumbai between 2012 – 2016. Over the years Radhi Parekh, Director of ARTISANS’, has nurtured their growth, and added to a collection that has not been seen together until now. 

Unschooled but educated in the intuitive play of form and color, unlettered but informed of a sophisticated visual vocabulary, these artists represent compelling voices from the heartland of India.

From the 17th - 23rd of January 2019, ARTISANS’ was proud to host Istanbul’s celebrated collector, designer, and author Gonul Paksoy’s Timeless Simplicity: From Collection to Creation

Paksoy’s designs are informed by her vast collection of objects - from archaeological beads to Ottoman textiles and talismans - and the meanings they carry across time.