RR Art Circle: Kaylani Saha Chawla On Calcutta, Craft, And Custodianship

“I have been surrounded by art ever since I was a child,” reflects Kalyani Saha Chawla. The Delhi-based multi-hyphenate is a product designer, serial entrepreneur, and an avid art collector. In 2017, Chawla founded Rezon Silverware, a luxury home decor brand, that specialises in unique metallic pieces, handcrafted by some of India’s finest silversmiths. What lies at the heart of her distinct roles as a creative and a businesswoman is an innate love for art and craftsmanship — a seed that was sown and nurtured right from her childhood years in Bengal. 

The Influence Of Bengal

“Art is one of the biggest influences in my life,” shares Chawla, looking back on her years growing up in Kolkata, a city that once served as one of the primary creative and intellectual anchors for the development of modern Indian art through the late 19th to mid-20th century. During these years, Kolkata was home to several key institutions and artistic developments, including the Bengal School of Art, the Indian Academy of Art, the Government College of Art & Craft, and the Calcutta Group.

The city's influence continues to shape how Chawla approaches, experiences, and collects art, but picking favourites is always a difficult task. “It’s difficult to say who my favourite artist is," she says, "but I have been greatly influenced by Bengal art."

She also emphasises on the foundational role played by her mother, Alakananda Saha, an art curator and cultural patron. In an early move, the mother-daughter duo co-founded gallery Montage Arts in New Delhi in 1999 which ran for nearly three decades. “She is a Shanikentan, Tagore-educated lady who had immense knowledge [about Bengal Art]” shares Chawla, whose art-filled home in South Delhi is lined with the works of the early masters.

Picking Favourites

From Jamini Roy’s 1940s Christ Series, which melded Western biblical narratives with traditional Bengali folk and Patua scroll painting techniques to pieces from the Kalighat school of painting which worked across different registers, from depicting deities to operating as a mode of satire on the wealthy Babus and other scenes from local life. Through an extensive collection of art works, Chawla has bookmarked an important period in India’s art history within the confines of her domestic space.

However, among them all, her favourite is an ink-on-paper work by Rabindranath Tagore — a work that she has witnessed through most of her life and is now a proud custodian of. The painting, which portrays a group of women, was gifted to Chawla by her parents. “I’ve seen it hanging in our house in Calcutta all my life,” she shares. Now she gets to experience it once again with a renewed vigour in her own home.

The Need For Craft

When it comes to celebrating India’s art practices, Chawla believes we need to recentre our crafts once again. Taking a long view of things, she admits that craftsmanship and handmade works are not spoken about enough, even though the subcontinent is home to centuries-old craft traditions, which often garner international attention yet remain unacknowledged within our own borders.

As an art patron and visionary behind Rezon Silverware, Chawla has been bridging this gap for years now, and encourages us to bring craftsmanship back into our conversations and celebrations of Indian art.