Taking Panchatantra to Paris: Vikram Goyal dives into the process of creating old-world tales for the current times

The installation is a collaboration with Berlin-based Norwegian olfactory artist and researcher Sissel Tolaas. It was presented in the gardens of L’Hôtel de Maisons, once the Parisian home of Karl Lagerfeld. Goyal’s muse — the Panchatantra animal fables we have grown up reading and listening to. The artist discusses what drew him to the Panchatantra and how he works with traditional Indian crafts for a contemporary design story.

What drew you to the Panchatantra fables? 
We wanted to show a collection of animal sculptures that drew from India. In India, we believe that animals have feelings, they’re part of the whole transmigration of souls, and that’s why they’re considered divine. We also have this history of the Panchatantra Tales with the animals as central characters and there’s a moral lesson to each of these. So my idea was to spotlight India’s cultural history and the fables to create this multisensory landscape.

Sissel Tolaas and Vikram Goyal

Animals communicate through smell and I wanted that to be an important dimension. Sissel took up the molecules of the habitat of the animals and of the material used to make the animals. We placed stools all around the animals in the garden. When you sat down, you could get a sense of the different smells and the animal’s habitat, which  kind of makes you think about the way they were made. It was such a wonderful way of bringing back to life these days from our childhood. 

What was the audience’s takeaway from this series? 
They were completely blown away. We had so much fun, and a fantastic response in the international press. In the evening, the actors from Cours Florent, Paris’ leading drama school would recite and enact the fables. It brought a lot of worlds together. The sculptures have secret compartments with the fables inside. People liked the lessons in life and morality linked to the fables. I feel The Soul Garden is a very beautiful example of how we can evolve Indian craftsmanship. And also include other Indian arts, Indian literature, in our current artistic dialogue.

Vikram Goyal

How do you present traditional crafts and texts for a contemporary audience?
By creating installations or sculptures or artworks that resonate for today’s contemporary aesthetic, which is rooted in the folklore and craft of the past. Our sculptures are contemporary, but the fables are hidden inside, which is very spiritual because it’s hidden away. And I believe your spiritual part of your life should be kept inside, but we’ve made them in a contemporary aesthetic, in our own unique studio’s aesthetic. 

What was the challenging part of creating these modern sculptures?
This is the first time I’ve done three-dimensional animal sculptures. It pushed me out of my comfort zone because they’re very complex to do. 

Your thoughts on AI in the arts and design? 
I stay away from AI, but certainly rely on technology to make artistic renderings in a very short period of time so that the design process becomes more efficient. I like change and I think change is important if it’s due in the right way. Otherwise, you end up repeating yourself and doing the same thing. We just have to see how best to harness it, where you can still be original. 

What do you think about  international galleries taking notice of Indian artists and art consumers in the recent past? 
There’s an increasing interest in India and not just Indian art due to the unique craftsmanship and materials of India. If you layer that with contemporary design, it makes for a good proposition for them. They are looking at India as a big market because Indian consumers at the high end are looking outside the Indian borders for world-class contemporary design and art.

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