For interior designer and artist Tahir Sultan, inspiration comes from many places. It could be a book he’s read, an element of nature, or working with his wide network of artisans across the country. In The Creatures Within, his first solo exhibition in the city, he blends together motifs from nature with the history of human artistry, highlighting the disparity between beauty and reality.

The Kuwaiti-Indian designer, who’s been creating art for the last 12 years, creates pieces in collaboration with local artisans from places like Dehradun, Vidharbha in Maharashtra, and Gond in Madhya Pradesh. “These pieces are very contemporary and out-of-the-box, but at the same time, they are a story you can relate to,” he explains. “For the trees, we engaged with Obeetee carpets, who work with local weavers in a collective outside Mirzapur. Our cotton fabric pieces were grown and woven from scratch by a women’s collective called ArtisanRe, in Maharashtra. The cloth was then transported to Dehradun, where another women’s collective called Pure Hands knitted it into the art piece it is now.”