"There are many galleries specialized in collectible design in New York. Clustered in neighbourhoods like Chelsea and Tribeca, these established platforms tend to focus on American, European and, to a certain extent, Brazilian design but few have ever exhibited work from South Asia. Cue House of Santal, a just-opened gallery filling in the sizable gap and offering the city's ever-voracious collector base something fresh."
"'Uncovering these talents and what contemporary South Asian design has to offer has been an obsession of mine for over six years,' says founder Raksha Sanikam, who left a career in finance to join her family's construction business as an interior designer. It was through a master's degree at the Pratt Institute that she fine-tuned her interest in collectible design, cultivating her own expertise and shrewd curatorial eye."
"Within the gallery, a central 'courtyard' evoking traditional Indian gathering places is used to present a tightly curated sampling of works, hinting at what's on view in the more intimate annexes. A deep burgundy is used throughout on the entrance and display platforms, a move that evokes the colour of santal, the rare sandalwood and the gallery's namesake. The inaugural exhibit highlights 13 diverse Indian talents."
House of Santal occupies a sprawling seventh-floor office space in Midtown Manhattan overlooking the Radio City Music Hall marquee. The gallery presents one-off and limited-edition furnishings arranged in carefully staged vignettes across a central courtyard and intimate annexes. A consistent deep burgundy palette evokes santal, the rare sandalwood and the gallery's namesake. The inaugural exhibition highlights 13 contemporary Indian designers whose works reinterpret regional furniture typologies and repurpose traditional Indian crafts. The gallery focuses exclusively on contemporary pieces rather than antiques. Founder Raksha Sanikam transitioned from finance into interior design and refined her curatorial approach through a master's at Pratt Institute.
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