Together with @shekhawatiart, we studied, analysed and reflected the decline and resistance towards storytelling and play in Shekhawati Fresco. And then we made these pieces.

Three tables, each tell the story of one artist.

Completion: 28 August 2026
Duration: 2 weeks

Shekhawati Fresco was always a medium of storytelling.  How did it decline so rapidly in the last two decades, and how do we bring back story, humor and play into the craft?

The Artist Madhouse Mandawa is an emerging collective design practice exploring present day storytelling and authorship within craft.


Taking from the 200-year old craft of Shekhawati Fresco, this series of hand-painted tables plays with the idea of the ‘maker’ through illustrating their own amusing stories.


The painters, usually excellent translators telling the stories of wealthy haveli owners, rarely have the agency to tell their own. Working with artists Ashok, Suresh and Sonia, the project reframes traditional motifs and applies natural stone pigments to depict each artist's own curiosities - exploring themes of ownership, belonging, and experimentation.

1. Suresh Nayak

A Dalit Artist who dreamed of buying the 100-year old Haveli next to his house just to turn it into a school to teach Shekhawati fresco. He bought it in March this year, his table holds that dream mid-motion with workshops already underway. Of the roughly 2,000 havelis in the region, it may be the only one owned by an artisan.

2. Ashok Duggar

A "haveli caretaker" for the last three decades, Ashok has spent as many years tinkering with objects around him. He is actually an experimenter, he collects old computers, radios, broken chairs and glassware, and turns them into odd machines. Some become sculptures, others get additive functionality, like a bucket becomes a loudspeaker. His table holds his frankenstein-like process.

3. Sonia Nayak

Women are traditionally barred from this craft, which demands extensive travel. Sonia is one of very few women working in Shekhawati fresco. She learned the craft from her husband, Suresh, and now travels from site to site, supervising projects and painting on scaffolding. Along the way, the artist group has become her family.

PROCESS DOCUMENTATION

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Exhibited as part of the show “stories through design”  curated and presented by studio samayam.  In a world full of things, more waste, capitalistic exploitation and colonial injustices, why do we design, for whom do we design and how do we continue to make and create?

stories through design, studio samayam
Eindhoven, Netherlands
17-25 October 2026