an immersive journey into another world through craft, art, AI and AR
Designer by TAHIR SULTAN
THE CREATURE WITHIN is a collaborative showcase of the designer working with dynamic brands like Obeetee and Arisan:re who are looking to make a difference and redefine the way in which they approach topics such as sustainability, craft and creativity.
For 16 years He has pushed the boundaries of what society deems traditional skill sets, working withartisans to contemporise their craft and make it dynamic, exciting and fresh.
This exhibition uses multiple crafts :
– Ethically grown cotton produced in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and woven by Thikana, a knitting NGO comprised of a collective of women in the foothills of Dehradun.
– It uses women in the remote village of Mulana (an hour outside Jaisalmer) to create the most breathtaking embroideries.
– Weavers in Mirzapur who work and live in collectives situated on the banks of the Ganga and are weaving ‘trees’ for this show.
– He has combined Gond Artists from Madhya Pradesh with embroiderers and ceramicists from Jaipur.
All this comes together to create an explosive show that has exciting elements of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and AR (Augmented Reality) added in to transport the viewer into another world for a brief period of time.
Tahir has created whimsical rooms in which visitors can lose themselves for a while : he encourages each visitor to go within, forget current reality and allow Imagination to lead you to questions you may never before have considered asking.
Come and wander through
– THE CYCLE OF LIFE
– THE TRAP
– THE SEA OF STARS
– THE BUBBLES
– THE FOREBODING FOREST
– THE GARDEN
Srila Chatterjee
Baro Market
October 2023
CURATORIAL NOTE
THE CREATURES WITHIN aims to deal with the different facets of ourselves, the demons we create, do not confront and carry with us through our entire life.
It is an exploration of ‘Imagination’.
If our souls are eternal then life is surely as fleeting and as beautiful as a bubble, if not always as care free.
I believe everything has consciousness, and carries awareness. People who have been regressed through hypnoses recount being aware that they were the wind – whose sole purpose was to cool the earth to allow for the first forms of life .
Where do we come from?
Were we seeded by aliens? No? Are you sure?
How often do we step out of our comfort zones and challenge what we have been told is the
Absolute Truth ?
We all come from the Source, but how was our creation facilitated?
When one asks the universe for something, it is always facilitated – whether through a person, a circumstance or a chance meeting. If so, then could our creation have been facilitated by other beings created by the Source?
Is this lifetime just one of many countless ones we will experience? On countless planets in infinite forms?
What sort of creatures would one encounter?
Could one encounter in another realm or on another planet?
Would you have imagined them or did they exist before your arrival ?
The show aims to question your prejudices and pre conceived notions : what you believe to be real, what you believe to be beautiful.
I am merely here to ask questions and plant seeds. It is your imagination and beliefs which will determine how and if they grow.
Tahir Sultan
Jaipur
November 2023
TAHIR SULTAN
Tahir Sultan is a designer of Kuwaiti and Indian heritage whose work underlines his deep understanding of different cultures. His exposure to fashion, arts, architecture and design have stirred his passion for pushing the boundaries of style, form and function. His eponymous brand stretches across product design, interior design, fashion, art installations, Levantine/Gulf/Persian food and running several women’s empowerment programmes across India that are incorporated into all his projects.
He has worked with many mediums over the last decade that transcend what most consider mainstream art, craft and industrial design.
THE CREATURES WITHIN is Tahir Sultans first foray into publicly showcasing his work.
