Some conversations make you lose track of time. The kind where you snooze your alarm, push your next meeting, and stay because every story leads to another. That is exactly what it felt like speaking with Pavitra Rajaram, Creative Director at Pavitra Rajaram Design and Nilaya Anthology. Even if you don't come from the world of art and design, she has a rare ability to draw you in.
In this conversation with Robb Report India, Rajaram reflects on why Indian craftsmanship is now being talked about more than ever before, the storytelling philosophy behind Nilaya, a space bringing together over 150+ artists from India and around the world, and what she hopes to offer to the country's growing community of art and design enthusiasts. This one makes a fitting conversation to bring you during our Art & Design Month.
Excerpts below.
Pavitra Rajaram(PR): That’s a great question, and it is one that sat at the centre of the philosophy of what we were trying to create at Nilaya. I felt very strongly that we needed a new articulation of what luxury is.
To contextualise it a little, there was a world until not so long ago when luxury meant a world that was constructed for you, and as a consumer or customer, you had the option of assimilating into that world or not. A world could be presented to you—whether it is Hermès or Godot or any other brand—and then it was your choice to adapt or enter that world.
I felt very strongly that the concept of luxury was evolving. More and more, luxury has become about an individual voice. It is about our stories, what is relevant to each of us, what matters to each of us.
That version of luxury sits at the very heart of anthropology. It is about what matters in terms of how things are made, who is making them, and how we choose things.
I did not want to present luxury as a plated option—like going to a restaurant and ordering a fancy meal that arrives perfectly styled, portion-controlled, and finished. I wanted it to be something that you choose consciously and intentionally. What you put together should represent an authentic and meaningful version of who you are.
That is the luxury anthropology espouses.
PR: Anthology exists in a space of exchange. It can be between the immaterial and the material, the tangible and the intangible. Nilaya is not just a place of consumption. The idea was to build it around culture as well as conscious consumption.
It is a very large space of around 100,000 square feet. Around 50,000 square feet is dedicated to global furniture design. We wanted to move away from limiting ideas like “Italian furniture” or “Milan”, and instead celebrate craftsmanship from across the world.
For instance, we represent Hida, a fourth-generation Japanese family-owned brand that works with the same maple forest. We also work with Scandinavian brands such as Pinu. India itself has a strong history of mid-century modern furniture and Scandinavian aesthetics, especially in places like Chennai, though that is not widely known.
There are two main areas: global furniture and a space where we bring together around 96 individual craftspeople from across the world. Some are major names like Ginori or Sabyasachi, while others are exhibiting for the very first time.
For example, we represent a potter who travels and forages clay across the peninsula, using it to create tableware that is viscerally linked to the soil of a particular place.
Alongside this, we also have two galleries of collectable design. People today are not only buying objects for their homes; they are deeply interested in the conversation around culture and design. The idea of collectability has expanded beyond art into textiles, ceramics, decorative and vintage objects.
These galleries are evolving exhibits showcasing different collaborations and curations by the creative team.
PR: One always hopes there is a shift. Chatter is good because it creates awareness. You can never convince all of the people all of the time, and if some people find their way to it, that is meaningful.
Craftsmanship has been deeply undervalued for centuries, not just recently. In the subcontinent, for example, some of the most extraordinary botanical albums in the world were painted by Indian artists, but they are named after patrons, not makers.
One shift we are seeing is placing craftsmanship within a network of collaboration: the maker, the designer or cooperative, NGOs or curators, and finally the customer or viewer. Everyone is part of the ecosystem.
At the moment, much of the conversation still isolates craftsmanship as something made by “a poor person somewhere” and then appreciated separately. But India has always been at the centre of trade and civilisation for thousands of years.
The craftsmanship conversation is not new to India. What is new is the respect given to cultures that make.
Sanjay Garg said it beautifully at London Fashion Week: why should Indian fashion always be justified by the number of hours spent or sequins stitched? The conversation is shifting towards the beauty of making, without hierarchies or labels. Craft prizes are valuable, but again, questions of access, power, and selection remain.
PR: It is at the root of everything we do. At Anthology, we say its length is time.
We are not measuring things by price but by value. If something takes six months to create in a small home in Srinagar, involving multiple generations weaving together, then time itself becomes part of the story.
In that time, life happens. A boy becomes a man, a father becomes a grandfather. That is what craftsmanship means to us—human emotion and time embedded into an object.
PR: The Indian customer has always been a global customer. Thousands of years ago, Indians were trading with Egypt, China, and beyond. Indian Maharajas were among the greatest patrons of Cartier and Boucheron.
What changed in recent decades is that India was not always seen as a primary luxury market.
My intention is to move beyond binaries of East and West. Some things are beautiful because they are handmade in villages; others are extraordinary because they use advanced technology and design. There is no hierarchy between them. The Indian home has always been layered. We combine heirlooms with contemporary design instinctively.
We are no longer self-conscious about these choices. These barriers are dissolving.
PR: India has always been at the centre of luxury and global design. It is not something new.
What has diminished in recent times is respect for Indian makers and design sensibilities.
Many of us working in this space—designers, brands, craftspeople—are deeply India-proud and see India as a continuum between past, present, and future.
I do not feel I am doing this for India; I feel India is doing this through me.
The response globally has been incredible. There is a desire to collaborate, engage, and be part of this narrative.
PR: This year excites me more than opening the space itself.
We are taking creative risks and focusing on emerging design. For example, we are pairing designers from Southeast Asia—Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand—with Indian designers and studios to co-create work.
We are also travelling to regions such as Kanjiburi to work with indigenous terracotta artisans creating monumental 20-foot horses.
There are many ambitious collaborations ahead, all centred on exchange, craft, and new forms of design dialogue.