LGB: So, so many people worked on this. And you poured so much time into it.
JB: The first time I met Arun Dada at Gem Plaza, I felt this man had a very strong aesthetic. Luckily, his artists were all Bengali, so I could communicate easily, and they understood my sensibility. And, you know, you have to also believe in somebody. Otherwise, you will never be able to work. So that is the first thing. I’m blessed to trust somebody who really kept that honesty with me.
The exhibition offers such a beautiful, nature-based experience. How did you approach creating that environment?
LGB: We went to Japan twice. And both times, the highlight of my trip was the way that nature is honoured in Japan. Nature is never a decoration. In Japan, nature is the way of contemplation. Even the framing in the buildings- everything is made in such a way that the window opens your view into the landscape. The window becomes a frame literally. It’s as if you have a painting already on your wall. I could not think of anything else but this.
JB: Now I am saying “this project”, but I never knew that this would be a project. I never thought I would do an exhibition. I was just doing it. God is kind, and I could spend money on it, but slowly, steadily. Now it has become a never-ending project. I was telling Laura, we will continue this, but if she is with me, it’s the biggest help.
Photograph by Kritin Khandelwal.
LGB: For me, she’s been doing jewellery for 10 years, right? For everyone who is viewing it for the first time, it’s like, wow, a discovery, it’s completely new. But for us, it’s like taking old pieces and showing them. For us, it’s a retrospective.
