India’s Artisans Return
A global design residency led by Indian artisans returned to Milan with its second group of residents presenting at the 2026 Alcova fair, pushing craft and living techniques into an international spotlight. (AD Middle East reports the residency as a deliberate effort to put artisan makers at the centre of global design conversations.) (admiddleeast.com)
A design fair in Milan that usually spotlights brands and star designers is giving floor space this month to Indian stone cutters, rug makers, metalworkers, and lighting studios instead. The project is the Shakti Design Residency, and its second group of collaborations is showing at Alcova from April 20 to 26, 2026. (alcova.xyz) (fuorisalone.it) The setup is simple: global designers spend a month in India working inside established Indian ateliers, then the finished pieces debut in Milan instead of staying inside a workshop or private commission. The residency says the annual program takes place across Delhi, Jaipur, and Mumbai. (shaktidesignresidency.com) (alcova.xyz) This year’s Alcova presentation includes collaborations between Rodolfo Agrella and Vikram Goyal Studio, Daniel Garber and Klove Studio, Maria Tyakina and Heirloom Naga Centre, Tadeáš Podracký and Heirloom Naga Centre, Zofia Ursic and Frozen Music, and Victoire de Brantes and Jaipur Rugs. Alcova lists the show at Casa delle Suore inside the former Baggio Military Hospital complex in Milan. (alcova.xyz) (fuorisalone.it) That venue matters because Alcova is not a side event. Fuorisalone says the 2026 edition brings more than 120 international exhibitors to two sites, Villa Pestarini and the Baggio Military Hospital, during Milan Design Week. (fuorisalone.it) The person behind the residency is Shalini Misra, an interior designer, collector, and philanthropist with ties to Delhi, London, and New York. Alcova describes the program as a first-of-its-kind effort to build a “symbiotic relationship” between Indian craftsmanship and the global design world. (alcova.xyz) (wallpaper.com) The argument behind it is that Indian craft is often treated like a separate category from contemporary design, even when the technical skill is as advanced as anything in a gallery or showroom. In 2025, Misra told Dezeen that “Made in India” still does not automatically signal innovation or contemporary problem-solving to many international buyers. (dezeen.com) The first edition showed how the formula works. Five designers were selected through an open call, spent four weeks in India in 2024, and presented the results at Alcova 2025 through collaborations with studios including Vikram Goyal, Klove Studio, Tarun Tahiliani, Jaipur Rugs, and the Chanakya School of Craft. (wallpaper.com) (dezeen.com) Those first works were not souvenir versions of craft. Dezeen’s examples included a brass-and-stone table with references to Hindu energy channels, layered glass lights based on Mughal arches, and a chandelier built from embroidery techniques used in Indian wedding garments. (dezeen.com) That is why the 2026 return matters inside design circles: the residency is no longer a one-off experiment but a repeat pipeline from Indian workshops to one of the world’s busiest design weeks. The official Shakti site now advertises Alcova, Milan Design Week, April 20 to 26, as the public stage for the new cohort’s work. (shaktidesignresidency.com) (alcova.xyz) What Milan visitors will actually see is not just finished furniture and lighting, but a reshuffled credit line. Instead of artisans appearing as unnamed fabricators behind a designer’s sketch, Indian ateliers such as Jaipur Rugs, Frozen Music, Heirloom Naga Centre, Klove Studio, and Vikram Goyal Studio are named as co-authors on the wall. (alcova.xyz)
