THE GUILD OF DESIGNERS & ARTISTS

Panel Discussion on
“When Italian Design meets Indian Arts & Crafts”
at Italian Embassy & Cultural Centre on 5th March 2018.

When Italian and Indian Architects and Designers come together to discuss a subject – “When Italian Design meets Indian Arts & Crafts“ the outcome is amazing. Italians are known for their unique Designs, high quality and also have a rich cultural heritage of arts and crafts which is common with the rich Indian heritage of Design and craftsmenship. Ar. Marco Ferreri and Ar. Raffaella Mangiarotti – Brand Ambassadors of Italian Design in the World shared their views about Italian Design and it’s relation to the Indian Design. Laila Tyabji – founder Dastkar with her immense contribution to the heritage arts and crafts of India emphasized on how it is important to look at the Indian market as seriously as the foreign markets for the crafts to have a greater reach and acceptance. Ar. Sanjib Chatterjee of Kaaru discussed Trends and Traditions as a way forward for crafts to be more acceptable by contemporizing them without losing the soul of the craft. Siddhartha Das a graduate from NID with an interesting body of work that involves Indian arts and crafts as a key element shared his views and experiences on crossover projects that he has done which blend design with art, architecture, and crafts.


Italian Ambassador H.E. Mr. Lorenzo Angeloni emphasized how Italian and Indian Designers can come together and inspire each other. He also shared his interactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the subject of Arts and crafts and how it can strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.


There was a lot of audience participation and fiery debate on the pros and cons of the state of art and craft in India today and it’s impact in the International market.