The Market and the Bazaar

Along side the edge of the lake that is home to Jal Mahal was the night market, that had been set up for the weekend. Camel rides were not just for foreign tourists, and carts with all sorts of wonders were loaded up and ready for customers. Vast plates of rice dishes were ready for…

Anokhi Museum and Jal Mahal

After the heat of the Amber Palace with its large open sunny courtyards, we headed back down the hill to the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing. ‘The initiative of Rachel Bracken-Singh and her husband Pritam Singh. Pritam’s father, John Singh, purchased the dilapidated Chanwar Palkiwalon ki Haveli mansion in the late 1970s and began a 3 year…

Magdalena Abakanowicz

As a break from writing about our Indian extravaganza, I thought I’d document the wonderful exhibition that we went to see with Mum at Tate Modern before she headed back to St Andrews. ‘Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope’ is an amazing immersive show which documents the unique works of this artist. ‘In…

The Amber Palace

The Amber Palace, sitting at the top of the gorge with the town of Amer at the bottom is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The last past of the journey from the bottom of the hill is taken on foot (after our ride up in jeeps), as it has been since the Palace was built….

Hawa Mahal and the road to the Amber Palace

Some people have asked if I have moved to India as it is taking me quite a while to work through the 2500 photos I took during our visit and to write a piece for the journal about everything we did. We accomplished a lot and the holiday lives on whilst I write the record…

Sunset and the Birla Mandir

We had hoped to make it to the Birla Mandir, to see sunset at the temple, but Jaipur traffic and our habit as a group of taking far longer then planned doing anything meant we encountered the sunset on the journey to the temple. On the plus side, it allowed me to take one of…

Gyan Jewellery Factory

Our busy fifth day continued with a visit to the Gyan Jewellery Factory, showrooms and private collection. The beautifully manicured garden and the security guards give you a clue that there is more to the modernist building that than the others in the area. Designed by Paul Mathieu, the spaces are breathtaking and a perfect…

Handmade Experimental Brushes and Botanical Inks

On Saturday, Ross delivered a hugely successful Handmade Experimental Brushes and Botanical Inks Workshop at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft. We were asked to deliver the workshop as park of a season of events to go with the excellent current exhibition Shōji Hamada: A Japanese Potter in Ditchling. Much like Ross… ‘Hamada developed a…

Kagzi Industry Paper Factory

After our busy morning in Sanganer, with the block printing workshop and the pottery factory, we had a tour of the Kagzi Industry Paper Factory, the largest manufacturer and exporter of cotton recycled handmade paper and gift paper products in India. ‘The ‘Kagzi’ community in Sanganer is the primary owner of the handmade paper industry…