Crafting the Contemporary
- Roshni Kshirsagar
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
Write up by Roshni Kshirsagar
Hampi is both monument, magnet, and muse
Beyond its timeless boulders and magnificent temples lies a living repository of craft—traditions that have endured as a result of its position as a global 15th century empire.
Our hotel for the Taj in Hampi had to pay homage to these skills, distilled into contemporary design. We turned to Karnataka’s living traditions—Khana, Ilkal, and and the intricate Lambani embroidery of the Banjara community, reimagining them as objects relevant to today.
‘Kubsa’ - a design house headed by textile designer Geeta Patil has been preserving & reimagining Khana weaves that date back to the 8th century Chalukya dynasty into rich and contemporary textiles. The Lambani tribe, with origins from north India, nomadic community of shepards and traders carried their craft to the south, settling permanently in Sandur. SKKK (Sandur Kushala kala kendra) has been working to sustain & revive this Banjara embroidery.
In collaboration with Kubsa and SKKK, we worked with their basic unit of weaving or embroidery and reimagined it together, as the fabric for lamps. The result is sculptural five-foot-tall lights, where the skill and craftsmanship of both textile traditions is spun into a glowing addition to the bedside of the rooms in the hotel.
From the banks of the Tungabhadra, Kishkinda Trust powered by Shama Pawar brings its ever evolving innovations—banana fibre crochet, tamarind seed and papier-mâché emblems, and organic cotton hangings. The entire village of Anegundi benefits from the skills of their craftspeople, and each piece speaks of craft sustained, waste renewed, community strengthened.
This journey is about collaboration, about listening to local wisdom, and about imagining how tradition can inhabit contemporary spaces with dignity and beauty. By collaborating with the people who are holding and pushing the boundary of what these crafts can become, we also find ways to create a space for visitors to expand their imagination to the artisanal power of the region. Craft, in the end, stands as a testimony to the power of human skill, imagination, and perseverance.