An art space is often synonymous with frames you know you cannot touch. The aversion to tactility is understandable. The frame stays — not just as a guard keeping watch but also as a symbol that what is done cannot be undone. One of the first things I see Dayanita Singh do at ARTISANS' in Kala Ghoda, is walk up to a wall with books fixed against it, and flip the pages of one of them. The works are all hers. But how often do you see an artist do that? That's the beauty of Zakir Hussain Maquette, Singh's new book exhibition in the city.

Published by Steidl Verlag, the book is based on her handmade maquette (a preliminary model) crafted in 1986 for a student project at NID, Ahmedabad, where gallerist Radhi Parekh was also a batchmate. It emanated from her travels with the musician and his peers over six winters in the '80s, photographing him in performance and at home with family. The Steidl facsimile edition comprises the original maquette featuring her pencilled notes and images made in a darkroom, as well as a reader and poster. And just when you think there are three parts to it, seated by a centre table, Singh shows us the fourth. Each copy is encased in a red cover, which can very well serve as a frame. This isn't just another book to be sold for reading, for copies of the maquette with different facing pages make up the wall. Another wall has pages of her diary on it. "I didn't know where I had placed it but ended up finding it three years ago at my home in Delhi. The process of putting this together began last summer," Singh says.