A guided heritage walk through the Old City for Jaipur Arts Week

LUX reports on the much-anticipated Jaipur Arts Week, which continues to grow after its inauguration in 2022

The Pink City enjoyed colours of every hue earlier this year, as Jaipur Art Week (Jaw) took to its palaces, museums, parks and even coffee shops. This fifth edition furthered Jaw’s emerging-to-established local-to-global model, with a presentation by Parsons New York and a new-gen India exhibition, alongside solo and group shows and multimedia events. Its famed Open Call saw 100 artists selected by an eminent judging panel including Anita Dube and Aindrea Emelife. Jaw is at the heart of Public Arts Trust of India (Pati) and Founding Chair Sana Rezwan’s mission to bridge creative heritage and contemporary practice, revealing Jaipur as a beacon of cultural innovation.

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Sana Rezwan, Founding Chair of Public Arts Trust of India, at Jaipur Art Week

The Portraits of Boogli and Her Mother by Gurjeet Singh x Jaipur Rugs

A Sacred Walk, 2025-26, by Poojan Gupta

Ascend Towards the Unknown, 2024-25, by Gigi Scaria

Joshua India block-printing studio, set for daily drop-in activities

Manthan installation, 2024, by Oliver Saurabh Sinclair at Alsisar Haveli

As We Rise: The Last Pillar of the Fort, 2025-26, by Aditi Aggarwal

Fractured Orbit (Waste Mandala), 2026, by Nataša Galečić

A walkthrough at the Amrapali Museum

The Earth Laughs in Flowers, 2025-26, by Kaanchi Chopra

What We Carry When We Cross, 2025-26, by Boris Colin Alphonse

Supported by the Lady Bamford Foundation as a centre for craft and sustainable design, Nila House occupies a 1940s residence in Jaipur restored by Indian architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai. Image by James Houston

Lady Carole Bamford, the founder of Daylesford Organic, beauty brand Bamford and numerous charitable foundations including Nila House gives us a guide to her spiritual home, Jaipur

Lady Carole Bamford

Where I hunt for treasures…

I always look forward to visiting the government khadi shops. I find myself spending hours there, lost in the piles of beautiful hand-spun fabric. Handwoven in villages across the country, the simple white cloth with all its imperfections is my idea of the ultimate luxury item.

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Cultural immersion…

The riot of colour and sound of the markets is extraordinary, and the old city has some of the best textiles and jewellery. I recently met a family of hand-block carvers who have been creating intricate wooden blocks for generations. Such artisans have a wealth of knowledge that we at Nila House, our new centre for preserving these traditions, believe should be shared with a broader audience so that it can be carried on into the future.

Image by James Houston

My perfect day in the city…

I always start my day with a puja prayer ritual followed by yoga and meditation. Then I will head out with my design team to visit our suppliers. I love visiting the workshops; I always learn so much, watching the dedication and meditativeness of their work. In the afternoon I might explore antique textiles at Rajasthani Arts to see if there is anything for our archives.

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Best dining spot…

47 Jobner Bagh is my favourite place to escape the crowds and noise. This charming family-run hotel has the best home-cooked Indian food. My favourite is a bowl of dal makhani, mopped up with a hot naan bread.

The building features a shop and studio spaces for local artisans. Images by James Houston

Home away from home…

We always stay at the The Oberoi Rajvilas. It is our home in Jaipur and the wonderful staff look after us like family.

Worth a detour…

I love visiting the paper factories in Sanganeer, just outside Jaipur. They have some of the most beautiful paper you can find, all handmade from natural materials – from cotton rag and banana fibre to the beautiful textured seed paper that we use for all of our packaging [at Nila House].

Nila House is a cultural centre dedicated to preserving traditional craft methods and supporting artisans across India; it is part of the Lady Bamford Foundation. Find out more: carolebamford.com

This article was originally published in the Spring 2020 Issue.