Injiri, Transversing the Architecture_ Layers of Light and Shadow, 2025, Appliqué work on Fabric.
Anjana Somany discusses shaping her Serendipity Arts Festival installation by using craft to embody the enduring architecture of stepwells.
Anjana Somany’s poetic invocation of the stepwell.
Stepwells, Vav or Baoli … among the most intricate water structures of South Asia.
Born of necessity, raised in beauty, they answered the thirst of arid lands, offering communities the gift of water, season after season.
Unlike the narrow shaft of a simple well where one has to draw water bucket by bucket, the stepwell unfolds as a vast, sculpted descent.
Steps lead deep into the earth until they touch the aquifer, that hidden reservoir, the quiet lifeblood beneath our feet. Rainwater was guided into these reservoirs, sandstone itself filtering and cleansing, nature and design – working in harmony.
Yet a stepwell is far more than a feat of engineering. It is a monument of sculpture, where stone itself becomes thought and philosophy. The hands that shaped its pillars and niches worked with more than skill; they were guided by ancient treatises, by wisdom that bound together craft, cosmos, and life. The sculptor carried within him an understanding of order and harmony, of the unity of body, spirit, and nature.
Each figure carved, each motif etched into stone, was a lesson in wholeness, a reminder that water is at once material and divine.
Here, the useful becomes sacred, and the practical becomes profound.
Each step downward alters the world. Light softens. Air cools. Stone gathers closer. The descent is not only toward water, but into the inner self, toward the womb of the earth, toward reflection, toward renewal.
Carvings and motifs animate this journey. Ganesha greets you at the threshold, blessing the journey. Goddesses and motifs of fertility whisper life.Carved fish mark thresholds to the water-world, portals between realms. The stone itself becomes scripture, of abundance, devotion, and rebirth.
But stepwells were also places of gathering, oblivious of gender, caste, creed, or religion. Women met here, pausing from their daily labour to speak and share. Travellers rested in the shaded corridors. Communities found conversation, ritual, and belonging.
In drought, they were lifelines. In life, they were theatres of the everyday.
Stepwells: Poetry in Craft at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 carries those many layers into craft. Pichwai painting frames the stepwell as a sacred layout, an offering to the eye and the spirit. Embroideries from Kutch begin from the earth’s substrata, stitching depth and density into cloth. The appliqué of Barmer mirrors the architectural intricacy of beams, arches, steps and stone.
And Bandhani returns us to water, rippling patterns and fluid colour, embodying the stepwell’s plurality.
A single place that is many things at once, functional and sacred, social and solitary, earthly and cosmic.
For just as stone once held water, cloth too holds memory. The memory of hands, of patience, of tradition. Both stepwell and craft are designs of survival raised into beauty. Both carry imagination within necessity, and life within form.
Anand – Together, they speak of continuity. Of relationships between people, between earth and sky, between human need and human wonder.
Though their original purpose has faded, stepwells endure. They remind us to live in rhythm with nature, to see design not only as a solution but as poetry. They remain reservoirs not only of water, but of memory, imagination, and inspiration.
The stepwell, an eternal source of life and a wellspring of stories.
Artisan working on ‘Substrata: Layers in Thread’ by Morii Design for Stepwells: Poetry in Craft at Serendipity Arts Festival, 2025.
We speak with Anjana Somany about the background to her project.
✿ Could you describe the vision you brought to the role of craft curator for the Serendipity Festival?
When I was invited to be the craft curator, my main goal was to project craft differently—to move beyond the traditional, object-based imagery people usually have in mind. I wanted to tell people that craft is much more than just a small item made by hand. Serendipity Arts gave me the freedom to experiment with that.
✿ Your first two exhibitions reflected this shift. Can you summarise them?
My first exhibition focused on “space-making craft practices.” It explored how traditional craft techniques, such as explorations in terracotta, bamboo, and woodcraft, continue to flourish across the seven elements of architecture. Sustainability was a central theme, exemplified by using terrazzo in floors, and the exhibition was designed to be highly interactive and experiential to engage young people.
The second exhibition shifted focus to placing the artisan centre stage with “crafts in the performing arts.” We established that performance needs craft as a backing, covering elements like shadow puppetry, costume in religious, folk, and tribal facets, and traditional handmade instruments from the western region of India.
✿ The current exhibition focuses on the stepwells of the arid regions, a topic that seems less directly linked to craft. How did this concept originate, and how is craft integrated?
The concept began with a prior project of mine focused on water. I was fascinated by stepwells in the dry, arid regions, which are architectural marvels and highlight the ancient knowledge of tapping water in lands without rivers. They were born of necessity, provided a lifeline during droughts, and served as inclusive social and religious gathering spaces.
To integrate craft, the exhibition is designed as a journey guided by scenography, which ensures craft remains dominant. We use the crafts of Gujarat and Rajasthan, the two regions profusely dotted with stepwells, to guide the viewer’s experience.
Artisan Trilok Prakash Soni working on ‘Pichwai: Mapping the Stepwell’ for Stepwells: Poetry in Craft at Serendipity Arts Festival, 2025.
✿ Could you walk us through some of the key craft installations within this journey?
The journey is designed to engage all the senses.
- Studio Medium: This is the final installation one encounters, representing the water at the bottom of the stepwell. Riddhi, the designer, uses the waste threads from the bandhani (tie-dye) technique to create her work.
- Trilock Prakash Soni: This recognized Pichwai artisan created a large 3D installation mapping a stepwell. We challenged him to translate the traditionally two-dimensional map into a three-dimensional experience to guide the viewer through the crafts of the stepwell regions.
- Olfactory Experiences: We incorporated two olfactory experiences: petrichor, which evokes the smell of moist earth, and a light incense to reflect the stepwell as a sacred space. This is part of our effort to open up all the senses for a memory-evoking, experiential space.
- Morii Design: This installation uses Rabari embroidery to explore the substrata and the aquifer lifeline, effectively making the invisible components of the stepwell visible.
- Injiri: Working with 5,000 artisans, Injiri contributed a multi-layered, 14×4-foot installation using Barmer appliqué. It showcases the architectural elements of the stepwell, such as pillars and arches, using light and shadow.
- Yatin Pandya: This part of the journey features pillars with miniature-style drawings by architect Yatin Pandya in peep holes, which provide a sectional idea of the steps and structure.
✿ Can you share details about the venue and the staging of the exhibition?
The stepwell exhibition is being held at the Azad Maidan in Goa. Unlike previous years, it’s a smaller, enclosed, and air-conditioned space of around 2,000 square feet, which we are sharing with other curators due to unpredictable weather. I must compliment the scenographers, Bertex/Vortex, who are essential in translating my conceptual ideas into realised, impactful installations.
✿ Finally, what is the key contemporary relevance of focusing on stepwells?
Stepwells, though they may have lost some of their relevance in modern times, serve as a powerful reminder of the sustainable solutions the ancients had for preserving water. This ancient knowledge is highly relevant to current discussions about climate change and ecology.
✿ We’re also very interested in your future plans for Garland magazine readers.
I am involved with the Craft Council, and we are planning to revive the “Craft Stories Under the Mango Tree” festival, which focuses on nine disciplines of craft. We are aiming to hold the festival in Hyderabad in February 2026.
Studio Medium, The Meeting Point_ Water, 2025, Bandhani work on Fabric
Stepwells is on display at the Serendipity Festival, Goa, 12-21 December 2025.
About Anjana Somany
Anjana Somany is a highly experienced Indian craft curator and designer whose professional roles include serving as a curator for the Serendipity Arts Festival and being actively involved with the Craft Council of India. She is known for developing large-scale, experiential exhibitions that push traditional craft beyond object-based displays to explore themes like space-making, performance, and sustainable design, highlighting the enduring relevance of ancient knowledge within contemporary contexts. Follow @mangotreeartanddesign and like facebook.com/MangoTreeArtandDesign.
