This show in Goa will make you look at design with a new perspective

In 2006, while pursuing her research for a Masters in furniture design at London’s Central Saint Martins, designer Gunjan Gupta worked extensively with wrapping craftsmen in Udaipur. It was there that she came across French-born designer Paul Mathieu’s work, who has long been inspired by India. Cut to today, she has come together with Mathieu for ‘Still Life,’ an ongoing exhibit at the verdant Sunaparanta-Goa Centre for the Arts in Altinho, Goa.

Curated by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, the showcase explores the idea of design objects as art forms by shining the light on select pieces from the designers’ collections. And while Gupta sees this honour of collaborating with him as an acknowledgment of life coming full circle, Mathieu views it as a lively conversation. “There is a spontaneity in Gunjan’s work that I look forward to; it’s like a surrealist poem,” he says. Gupta sees refinement as an overarching theme in Mathieu’s work. “He’s a romantic, and he brings that into his products. There’s a love for India and for craft; he can see beneath the layers,” she says.

Central to the work of both designers is their respect for, and close partnership with, master craftsmen. But while Mathieu often looks to nature for inspiration to arrive at modernist interpretations, Gupta’s work unfolds as vignettes on the paradoxes of street life in India. Her work uses banal materials like jute and discarded bicycle seats that are representative of Indian bicycle vendors; images that are sculptural sights by themselves, but remain scenes we take for granted in daily life. This rings true while viewing pieces like the Potli chair, the Floating Gadda chair, the Gaddi Bicycle throne and the Matka Table, which are featured in the show. The back of the Potli chair is inspired by the dhobi’s laundry sack, while the Matka table replicates street imagery of terracotta stalls.

Mathieu’s exhibits include the Hanuman chair, which is a version of the Louise chair (designed for Stephanie Odegard), but made in a lacquer finish in an orange hue. There is his white marble jaali table, where air filtered through the intricate carving transforms the heavy marble into an airy, light surface. Gupta describes the French designer’s Black Armoire as a beautiful rendition of ‘textile frozen in wood’.

Mathieu lives and works primarily in New York, but spends time in France as well as in Udaipur, India, where he has a haveli—whereas Gupta’s Wrap Studio, based in New Delhi, blends traditional Indian craftsmanship with a contemporary design ethos to create luxury product designs. “There is a certain chiaroscuro that comes with their work. Gunjan has profundity and drama while Paul is more like a noir film. These are two very different voices; the intent was to channel both of them meaningfully in a way that enhanced each other,” says Shanghvi.

He isn’t keen to view the two designers as metaphors representing the east and west, but a designer’s gaze does add a meaningful subtext. As a French native who spends time across three continents, Mathieu says he embraces the chaos that India represents because it keeps him open to possibilities during the design process. As for Gupta, she admits that as an Indian, she has the advantage of language that helps connect with the craftsmen. “What comes through the making process is not just the technique, but also the rituals and stories from the craftsmen’s homes. I am bringing all that into my products,” she says.

‘Still life’ featuring works by Gunjan Gupta and Paul Mathieu is on till December 5 at Sunaparanta, Goa Centre for the Arts, Altinho, Goa