Clockwise from top left: MAP, Kamini Sawhney, Mehrangarh Fort, Sharan Apparao, Priya Paul, and Tarang Arora Why are museum shops in India not as thoughtfully curated as those you find abroad? We have both craftspeople and design experts who have been experimenting with different materials here but they haven’t made it to the museum gift shop. … Read more
Anita Ratnam | Photo Credit: G. Venket Ram My children and friends know that I must make that mandatory stop at the museum shop if I am travelling abroad. There is a deep local engagement you find at a museum store and, on returning home, the joy in placing each piece of contemporary jewellery purchased … Read more
Recently, while attending an event in Mallorca, Spain, I spotted a foreigner wearing a tulsi bead necklace. When I commented on how ‘Indian’ it looks, he immediately apologised to me and said that he didn’t mean to appropriate it. I told him, “Absolutely not. It’s just a bead. It’s not made exclusively for Indians, and … Read more