Vikram Goyal has had a fantastic 2025. The Delhi-based art entrepreneur, whose work is "deeply rooted in India’s cultural and material legacies" and who is known for his magnificent metal work, especially his signature repousse, feels “2025 has been about the resonance of ideas and about seeing how an Indian design voice can find its place and power on the global stage”.
“It’s been a journey that’s taken our studio work across countries, each experience adding a new layer of dialogue and discovery. Returning for the third consecutive year to both India Art Fair, Milan Design Week, and Pad London with Nilufar Gallery, curating ‘Wrapped in History’, and making our debut at Design Miami.Paris, as the only Indian studio to showcase there, were all milestones that reaffirmed the universality of Indian craftsmanship and storytelling,” says Vikram, when we call him to chat about two of his most compelling projects this year, ‘Wrapped in History’ and ‘The Soul Garden’.
While Vikram curated The Great Elephant Migration’s humongous ‘Wrapped in History’, which brought together over 70 handcrafted blankets by 55 globally recognised designers and indigenous communities, ‘The Soul Garden’ was showcased at Design Miami.Paris 2025, and was created in collaboration with Berlin-based olfactory artist Sissel Tolaas and presented by The Future Perfect. Excerpts.
A Sabyasachi blanket at ‘Wrapped in History’ (left); A Ralph Lauren blanket at ‘Wrapped in History’.
Congratulations on two back-to-back super initiatives. First ‘Wrapped in History’ and now ‘The Soul Garden’. What are the joys you derived from putting both these projects together?
Thank you. Both ‘Wrapped in History’ and ‘The Soul Garden’ have been deeply fulfilling in very different ways. ‘Wrapped in History’ was about rediscovering the cultural fabric of India, literally and metaphorically, through its rich textile heritage and craftsmanship. It was an exercise in connecting the past with the present.
‘The Soul Garden’, on the other hand, is more meditative; it looks inward, drawing from myth, memory, and ecology. The greatest joy in working on both was seeing how traditional craft can still surprise us; how it can be reinterpreted in ways that feel relevant and universal. Each project reaffirmed my belief that when we honour process and emotion, craft becomes timeless.
What were the challenges of ‘Wrapped in History’?
‘Wrapped in History’ was as rewarding as it was complex. The biggest challenge lay in balancing authenticity with reinterpretation, staying true to the integrity of traditional textile techniques while translating them into a contemporary design language. Each craft comes with its own rhythm, material limitation, and cultural story, so it required immense patience and dialogue with artisans to ensure we honoured their skill without turning it into mere ornamentation. Coordinating across different crafts clusters and timelines was demanding, but that process also became the most enriching part of the journey.
And, ‘The Soul Garden’?
With ‘The Soul Garden’, the challenges were both conceptual and sensory. It was an ambitious project that brought together sculpture, smell, performance, and philosophy, each with its own rhythm and complexity. The greatest challenge was maintaining harmony between these diverse elements so that nothing felt forced or decorative. Working with smell, for instance, was completely new terrain. It required thinking beyond the visual, to design an experience that people could feel intuitively through presence, smell, and memory.
Equally, it was important to retain the spirit of the Panchatantra, to distil its quiet wisdom without turning it into a literal narrative. That demanded restraint and patience. There were moments when the process felt slow or uncertain, but staying patient allowed the work to find its natural form. The entire installation unfolded gradually, almost like a meditation, reminding us that true craftsmanship, like wisdom itself, takes time to reveal its depth.
‘The Soul Garden’
Do you think you have a karmic relationship with elephants?
I don’t know if I would call it a karmic relationship, but I’ve always felt a deep, almost instinctive connection with elephants. As a child, I was completely fascinated by them, their gentleness, their memory, their quiet intelligence. I remember being captivated by Babar the Elephant, the French illustrated stories that viewed the world through his eyes. Those tales shaped my early imagination, the idea that strength could coexist with grace.
In my family too, elephants have always held a special place. Ganeshji, as a symbol of wisdom and new beginnings, was ever-present in some form or another. Over time, that early fascination evolved into something deeper, an emotional and creative relationship. Especially through my association with the Elephant Family, whose work in conservation and cultural awareness resonates deeply with me. Their belief in protecting both wildlife and heritage mirrors much of what I try to express through design — empathy, continuity, and respect for the interconnectedness of all life. Of all the animals I have worked with, the elephant feels most familiar, almost ancestral. It embodies wisdom, continuity, and care, qualities I aspire to in both life and design.
It’s interesting that you worked with olfactory artist Sissel Tolaas. What did you think she would lend to the project?
I have always admired Sissel’s ability to use smell as a form of communication, to make the invisible perceptible. When I began conceiving ‘The Soul Garden’, I wanted it to engage every sense, to feel alive. Sissel, a Berlin-based olfactory artist, brought an extraordinary dimension to that idea. She captured smell molecules from the process of making, the heat of metal, the polish of patina, and combined them with smells inspired by each animal’s natural habitat. Her work allowed the installation to breathe. Smell became an emotional bridge between the viewer and the sculptures, something that could not be seen but deeply felt. It introduced a layer of empathy and memory that changed the way people experienced the space.
‘The Soul Garden’ sounds like poetry. What does your soul’s garden look like?
It’s an ever-changing landscape, part memory, part imagination. My soul’s garden is filled with contradictions: silence and sound, strength and fragility, shadow and light. It is where tradition and curiosity coexist. There are fragments of Rajasthan, echoes of temple bells, and the smell of metal and earth. It’s also a place of making, where thought becomes touch, and touch becomes form. I think, ultimately, the soul’s garden is the space we cultivate through reflection, where beauty is not ornamental but restorative.
What are some of the important projects you are working on next?
We are next preparing for our showcase at India Art Fair 2026, which adds another exciting chapter for the studio. Alongside this, we will continue expanding VIYA’s pop-up showcase across India, creating new opportunities to engage with audiences and share our evolving design language in different cities.