Your Venice itinerary deserves an Indian craft upgrade

If art, design, and culture are your kind of thing, Venice is the place to be this September. While the Venice Film Festival brings its usual dose of movie stars and red carpets, the city will also be celebrating another kind of creative talent at the fourth edition of the Homo Faber Biennale. Running from September 1 to 30, the month-long showcase will bring together more than 500 artisans from over 70 countries, with 700-plus works spread across the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

This year’s theme, ‘An Island of Light’, is led by artistic director Es Devlin and inspired by the Venetian lagoon, with light, water, mirrors, and movement woven into an immersive celebration of materials and making.

Fine art and editorial photographer Rohit Chawla, who was at this year’s preview, is clearly a fan. “Homo Faber is singularly the most wonderful exposition of true and real art that I have encountered in the recent past, far removed from some of the farcical oddities that one is subjected to under the guise of contemporary art at incestuous biennales across the world. The fact that Sangita Jindal and the JSW group are promoting and bringing true craftsmanship from India to an important global exposition bodes well for India and, hopefully, will give some of the lesser-known talent from India its rightful place on the contemporary art ecosystem,” he says.

His personal favourite from the Biennale was ‘Bombay Carousel’ by Shed, Priyanka Shah’s multidisciplinary design studio that brings a wonderfully detailed miniature of Mumbai to Venice. “The works and craftsmanship at Homo Faber were an exception—uplifting, authentic, and a real representation of what contemporary art needs to espouse. Otherwise, most art is just a commercial charade perpetuated by the gallery caste system,” Chawla adds.

And there’s a lot of Indian talent to keep an eye on at the exhibition. Tarun Tahiliani Design Studio, Vikram Goyal, Rooshad Shroff, and makers from the Shakti Design Residency are among the names bringing Indian craft and design to Venice, alongside 29 artisans supported by JSW Foundation. There are works spanning everything from ceramics, textiles, and metalwork to wood, stone, and basketry. Two of the JSW-supported artisans will even give visitors a front-row seat to the making: Mohammed Abdul Bari will demonstrate silver inlay, while Kanday Anjanappa will bring leather shadow puppets to life. In other words, there’s plenty to see and a lot more going on than beautiful objects sitting quietly behind glass. Here are the Indian names and works that won our attention at Homo Faber this month.

Vikram Goyal

Vikram Goyal knows a thing or two about making brass bloom. The Delhi-based designer and metalsmith brings selections from his ‘Bagh’ collection to Homo Faber in collaboration with Milan’s Nilufar Gallery, including the Bagh C table and Bagh mirror. Inspired by the geometry of India’s historic gardens, the pieces feature branching, vine-like brass forms with hand-finished leaves, petals, and flowers winding their way across each surface. Think of it as bringing the garden indoors, minus the gardening.

Exhibited in An Atelier Alive

Shed

Mumbai has never looked quite this adorable. Surat-based Shed, founded by Priyanka Shah, brings to Venice the ‘Bombay Carousel’, a whimsical, intricately stacked miniature version of the city that feels somewhere between an architectural model and a very elaborate toy from Santa’s workshop. Rather than mapping the city horizontally, the piece builds it upwards in three rotating tiers, with fishing boats and traffic at the base, street life in the middle, and the city’s neo-Gothic skyline soaring above. Look closely and you’ll spot landmarks like the Bombay High Court and University of Mumbai, alongside tiny vintage cars, boats, and buildings. Made using teak and rosewood, brass, aluminium, stainless steel, sandstone, marble, and coloured glass, the carousel captures the constant movement of Mumbai while bringing a little bit of its manic madness to Venice. It’s gorgeous, endlessly detailed, and, easily one of the crowd favourites at the Biennale.

Exhibited in Rooted Ascent

Chacko Design Studio

Mumbai-based furniture studio Chacko is bringing a rather important conversation to the forefront with its work ‘Mehfil’ at Homo Faber this year. Designed by Chacko, illustrated by artist Gaia Cairo, and crafted by Atelier Sampigé & Co., this functional work of art doubles as a beautiful tabernacle that, at first glance, has a wonderfully beetle-like form. Look closer and you’ll find three endangered animal species from the Indian Subcontinent depicted in constricted poses, highlighting the threat of habitat loss. The watercolour design is translated into intricate wood marquetry, using only the natural colours of the wood, with no pigments or stains.

Exhibited in Rooted Ascent

Tarun Tahiliani Design Studio

We’re certainly no strangers to a Tarun Tahiliani creation, but at Homo Faber the spotlight shifts to the craft behind his instantly recognisable couture. The designer brings ‘Patkas’, a series of ceremonial waist sashes that celebrate India’s rich textile traditions through a decidedly contemporary lens. Think intricate pichwai, chikankari, zardozi, and resham work finished with crystals, gemstones, mirrors, and mother-of-pearl. It’s a chance to appreciate the painstaking artisanal techniques that go into the glamour, this time displayed front and centre rather than tucked into a spectacular outfit.

Exhibited in An Atelier Alive

Klove Studio

Whimsy is having a bit of a moment, and no one is complaining. In 2026, the internet seems to have decided it’s about making room for a little more playfulness, surprise, and joy in everyday life. Klove Studio’s ‘Enchanted Forest’ lamp feels like a rather excellent argument for the cause. Made from individually shaped glass rods and tubes arranged along a branching metal armature, it brings together mushrooms, buds, and flowers in a tiny woodland scene that glows warmly when switched on. It looks like a prop from a fairytale, but happens to be a table lamp, and may just be the kind of thing that makes leading a whimsical life considerably easier.

Exhibited in An Atelier Alive

Ankon Mitra

What do you get when you give a fallen tree a second life? Something like Ankon Mitra’s ‘Mother, We Cut You Down to Sculpt You and Weave You’. The Delhi-based architect, landscape designer and sculptor works with storm-felled acacia driftwood, wrapping and weaving it with paper twine and raffia macramé, crafted with Shalini Mithal. The result is part sculpture, part woven artwork, and a pretty striking way to think about what we do with nature once we’ve altered it.

Exhibited in Rooted Ascent

Shakti Design Residency

Somewhere between a table, a sculpture, and something from Dune is this rather fantastic piece, ‘Growing Into’. Prague-based designer Tadeáš Podracký created it during the Shakti Design Residency after travelling to Dimapur, Nagaland, to work with artisans at Aku Zeliang’s Heirloom Naga Centre. The piece was part of the group showcase at Alcova during Milan Design Week, but gets a prominent space in Venice. The wooden top is hand-carved with details inspired by Konyak morung architecture, while its fluid cane base was woven by Ajay Gour and the centre’s artisans. Together, the contrasting materials create a form that feels both otherworldly and deeply rooted in place.

Exhibited in Rooted Ascent