For third generation diamantaire Rahul Jhaveri, designing a piece of jewellery has never been as simple as making a wedding showstopper. It’s the primary reason, that Jhaveri has only just launched Studio Renn, a jewellery label that merges abstract thought with design. He gives us an example.
While you might think a pair of earrings by Studio Renn, reminds you of a dried orange peel, another person might see the same as pistachio shells.
Dialogue through conflict
Jhaveri has painstakingly worked on his design process, to achieve the off-centre aesthetic. “When I started conceptualising this a year ago, I knew I was entering an uncharted territory. I got together visual artists who knew nothing about jewellery, and jewellery designers who knew nothing about the artists. Both are masters in their own right but had no knowledge of what the other designer did. The idea was to get together, start a dialogue and create through conflict. We looked at mundane objects and asked questions such as ‘What makes that thing what it is? Why do we perceive it the way we do? How does it smell, taste? What would it look like when it is rotten?’ Through this [process] we created a vocabulary of the label and the subject took a life of its own,” shares Jhaveri.
Collaborating with multi-disciplinary designer Divya Thakur then was a natural choice for Jhaveri. Thakur who until recently ran the boutique, Design Temple – amongst her many other achievements – has worked on the curation and spatial design of the exhibition ‘Seeing The Unseen’.
- Bigger Gallery Maskara has moved beyond the realm of traditional art exhibitions. Gallerist Abhay Maskara says, “Every gallery has a non-productive period in between shows during which it is possible to host other events. This helps generate extra revenue to support the artists. These events bring in a different audience to the gallery. A lot of the events are related to fashion, food, architecture and art, as the events need to have some symbiotic relationship with what we do at the gallery.”
Exhibited at Gallery Maskara, the centrepiece of the show is: seven cocoons, each representing a foreign word that has no direct translation. For example, komorebi, a Japanese word which means a play of light and leaves when sunlight streams through trees. Each cocoon houses a piece of jewellery. There are close to 70 pieces on display, the rest of which can be viewed through regular glass cases.
“Inspiration for Studio Renn is organic, not defined like say art deco-inspired. The layout lets people experience the jewellery in their own unique way. ‘Seeing’ is a metaphor for a holistic experience, each cocoon is an emotion, you read it, feel the emotion, and it triggers different memories for everyone. Hence, each one will view the every piece in a different way based on a memory that relates the most to you. The emphasis is on self, your taste, and not the object. The process of making and experiencing is as important as the product,” says Thakur.
The posts on which the jewellery has been placed on has been designed by Little Shilpa and all the pieces are limited edition. “My inspiration was very mundane, but if you study something enough and approach it in a different way there’s unseen beauty in everything,” Jhaveri sums up.
Seeing The Unseen is on display at Gallery Maskara, Colaba until February 24; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m; 22023056
