Chanakya at 40: How Indian craft became contemporary art

A single millimetre. That is the margin of tolerance at which the artisans at Chanakya School of Craft are expected to work. It is a strangely revealing number for an organisation now presenting monumental works of fibre, sculpture and embroidery. The scale may have changed, but the principle has not: the spectacular is built from tiny, repeated acts of attention.

The Chanakya craftspeople | Photo Credit: Hashim Badani

This September, Chanakya International marks 40 years since its founding, alongside a decade of the Chanakya Foundation and School of Craft, with three exhibitions across Mumbai.