Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i Travel + Leisure India & South Asia

ONCE ASKED AN ART HISTORIAN friend of mine, who was studying South Asian restoration, why India wasn’t doing more to protect and promote its art and heritage. He replied, with a touch of melancholy, “It’s because we have too much of a good thing.” India has long been synonymous with the expression of human creativity and skill. The innovation and intimacy embodied by our karigars, masters, and ustads have been a cornerstone of culture, spreading from the East across the seas. Yet, even this abundance requires thoughtful curation and celebration. As the plane descended towards the airstrip in the beach-town haven of Goa a few years ago, I found myself among a select few travelling for an art event. However, this year, even before winter had fully set in, there…

FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES, beginning in the 1940s, Charles and Bernice Alexandra “Ray” Eames created what would become some of American Modernism’s most iconic objects. They worked in film, architecture, and graphic design, but were best known for furniture, especially the molded-fiberglass Shell chair and their signature plywood and leather Lounge Chair and Ottoman. Now admirers of mid-century design can get a glimpse into the couple’s world with the opening of the Eames Archives, part of the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity in Richmond, California. On display are the products they created and even the tools they used—some 40,000 objects. Visitors can examine their form studies, which include wartime wooden leg splints and airport seating with vinyl pads designed to be rolled up for easy storage. The Eameses were motivated…

You’re currently in India, as we speak. What are you here for? I’m taking in the art world here, and meeting artists. There’s been so much tremendous growth in Indian art. It’s been so exciting to see new, young, fresh perspectives who are bringing new insight to what Indian art can look like. And there’s so much incredible talent in this country. It feels so important to be here and to see the work in person because one thing I constantly reiterate is that India is a very young country and contemporary art is meant to give us a visual record, an aesthetic record of our current history, and if you’re not looking at young voices and seeing the people on the ground who are creating at early stages of…

What encouraged you to start Experimenter, tell us about the concept behind it? Experimenter was started with the core objective of being reflective of the times we live in. The exhibitions installed at our galleries, therefore, provide a mirror to our contemporary moment and offer ways of seeing it differently or push the boundaries that we bind ourselves within. How do you define indulgence in the context of art, and how does this concept play a role in the curatorial practices at Experimenter? To us, contemporary art is a sensorial and intellectual indulgence that provides an opportunity to bring to the viewer a point of view that either needs urgent attention or questions established norms. Artists use a range of mediums and methods to express their ideas, from installations to…

VOLUPTUOUS NIMBUS rain clouds crowd the sky as our train pulls into Valencia Joaquín Sorolla. Like most passengers, we stop to buy umbrellas before exiting the station. It’s odd, for out of 365 days, Valencia, seated on the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula fed by the Turia River, is barely drenched for 10 days. In 700 AD, the Moors saw this Mediterranean climate as beneficial for sowing rice in the surrounding sunny fields of Albufera, a freshwater lagoon around 12 kilometres from the city, turning it into the most important rice-producing region in Spain. They also invented paella, a meal for the poor field labourers, who set out from home in the early hours of the morning to till the land, carrying in tow a flat ‘paella’ or pan,…

MARKING A SIGNIFICANT milestone in the their journey, Schueco India celebrated innovation, sustainability, and the future of design in a distinct, thoughtful format recently with Travel+Leisure India & South Asia. The inaugural ceremony commenced with a traditional ribbon-cutting and diya lighting, a nod to India’s rich heritage. Led by Shyam Raghunandan, Managing Director of Schueco India, and esteemed international delegates — including CEO and Managing Partner Schueco International KG und OTTO FUCHS KG, Andreas Engelhardt; Group CFO, Philipp Neuhaus; Executive Vice President International Metal Division, Matthijs Bruijnse; and Head of Technology and Product Solutions & Executive Vice President Metal Business, Hendrik Pahlsmeyer—the ceremony set the stage for an inspiring evening. Notably, the India Welcome Forum also marked the opening of Schueco India’s Experience Centre in Delhi-NCR. Igniting conversations The evening…

How did you venture into art from design? I learnt how to paint over the course of the pandemic. During my 40-year career of designing hotels, I’ve consistently expanded interests to become a better hotel designer. Starting with landscape architecture, architecture and interior design, to horticulture, graphic design, signage, uniforms and owning hotels (the Shinta Mani group). Then came philanthropy, conservation, and now painting, sculpting and ceramics to support our charitable causes. How do proceeds from your art benefit your Shinta Mani Foundation in Cambodia? One hundred percent of the proceeds from art we sell in our five galleries across Asia is used for various causes. Hundreds of underprivileged young adults have graduated from the hospitality school at Shinta Mani Angkor for over 20 years. We provide milk for infants…

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1 NEW YORK CITY, USA Beneath New York’s iconic skyline, art pulses through the city—vivid, dynamic, and ever-evolving. For an ideal introduction, hop into the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for a vast collection of works that propel your understanding of creativity to new levels. Spiral through a journey of fascinating 20th-century masterpieces at The Guggenheim. Then, at the Met, get lost in centuries of art, from ancient relics to timeless paintings. But the Big Apple isn’t just about the museums. The installations at High Line make you rethink space, while Bushwick’s murals engulf your mind with explosive ideas. In Chelsea’s galleries and Soho’s edgy spaces, you’ll always unearth something fresh, something new. Art is a living conversation in New York—forever shifting, constantly engaging, inviting you to be part of…

‘ALULA’, I GOOGLE, trying to find out all information I need about this destination that has caught the attention of the world for many reasons—its charm just being one of them. A city, but not a city, I say to myself, gawking at the pictures and videos I’m seeing online. Little did I know that these visuals that I see do no justice to what I’m about to experience. I arrive in Riyadh at the crack of dawn, a few hours of rest await me before I leave for the AlUla World Archeology Symposium (worldarchaeologysummit.com) a two-day meet that brings together archeologists and experts from around the world to talk about the past, present, and future of archeology, and how local communities can be helped. The fact that this symposium is…

Tell us about the upcoming Islamic Arts Biennale. What can we expect? The 2025 Islamic Arts Biennale is titled And all that is in between, a phrase from the Qur’an that invites exploration of the realms beyond our immediate sensory perception. The exhibition will showcase over 500 selected historic works of art sourced from institutions and collections from all over the world in juxtaposition with creations by contemporary artists. Through five large galleries, visitors will experience a journey through historical and contemporary works, revealing unbroken threads of creativity, spiritual inquiry, and the perpetual human search for deeper existential truths. With this biennale, what do you think of the representation of Islamic arts in the world today? The Islamic Arts Biennale dispels the notion that contemporary expression is a novel phenomenon…

STARE AT THE CRISP white piece of paper in front of me before getting down to creating my own multi-coloured print on it. It’s rather simple and involves placing the paper on the table and covering it with a clear cover that has the print of the Kinryūsan Temple in Asakusa. After inking a roller and running it over the paper, voilà, my print of the Temple which is the most revered Buddhist Temple in Edo is ready. The interactive activity is part of the Nakasendo Hiroshige Museum of Art (hiroshige-ena.jp) located in the post town of Ena. The museum is dedicated to Utagawa Hiroshige, a Japanese artist and the last great master of the tradition of ukiyo-e woodblock printing. Clutching my print rather possessively, I walk around the museum…

YOU HAVE NO CLUE HOW lucky we are to have found these,” Debjit smiles at me as I cautiously handpick the last of the delicate wild mushrooms from the muddy swamp that stretches before me. Called bali chhatu in the local language, these tiny, long-stemmed sand mushrooms, I am told, are endemic to the jungles of Odisha and survive only for a day, if and when they manage to grow after an extended period of heavy rains. And here I am—kneeling in the mud, collecting clusters of them from the foot of one of the tall teak trees that surround us. Once done, I hand over my share to Debjit, who then wraps them all in a huge teak leaf and carefully places it inside his bag. Soft rays of…

“WE will explore 1,000 years of history in just 1,000 steps,” said my guide Anett Orzyszek, as we gathered in the Hauptmarkt, the market square of the medieval town Bautzen (bautzen.info) in Germany, for our guided walking tour. The towering Rathaus Bautzen, or Town Hall (bautzen.de), painted in shades of yellow, twinned with the cheerful yellow daffodils and coneflowers in the square. A veritable mosaic of Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance styles, this 14th-century edifice, with is majestic clock tower and ornate façade, epitomised the city’s architecture. The historic St. Peter’s Cathedral or Dom St. Petri (st-petri-bautzen.de) with its Gothic interiors, Baroque dome, and two separate altars, was a place of worship for both Protestants and Catholics. Sculpted fountains and majestic statues added to the charm, while dappled sunlight washed over…

THE PHOTOGRAPH CAPTURES the vibrant spirit of a young nomad girl at the famous Pushkar Fair, a celebration of culture and heritage. Her sparkling eyes immediately drew me in, exuding a mix of curiosity and resilience. Dressed in a colourful traditional attire that echoed the vibrancy of the fair, she stood against a backdrop of camels and the bustling desert scene, creating a moment of raw authenticity. I was captivated by the way her expression seemed to narrate untold stories of her nomadic lifestyle. The golden sunlight accentuated the intricate details of her outfit, while the earthy tones of the camels and desert sand provided a beautiful contrast. The photograph was an instant connection with her world—a fleeting moment of stillness amid the chaos of the fair. It embodies the…