About Kala Curry — Celebrating India’s Independent Artisans
We are here to celebrate India's best artists and their crafts – with full credit, fair value and creative control – and bring you the most unique handcrafted creations to fill your world.
AGENDA
Build lasting relationships with India's most exceptional artists and artisan communities — across regions, mediums and traditions.
Bring their work into the digital world, telling their stories with care and expanding access beyond local offline markets. (Only a small fraction of handicraft sales happen online — we're here to change that.)
Handle logistics, marketing, innovation and growth opportunities, so artisans can focus on what they do best: creating and sustaining their craft.
Champion fair pay, visibility and long-term value for the people and communities behind the work.
Make buying handcrafted the norm again — not the exception because our heritage is not an aesthetic but a way of life.
FOUNDING STORY
As a young woman born and raised in Mumbai, I was frequently exposed to cultures and crafts from Kolkata and Assam - places my parents originated from. After I moved back to India in 2017, after 5 years in the US, I spent some time travelling through the country. I started with Amritsar and Agra, moving slowly, collecting small pieces of India as memories. In Amritsar, I bought a vibrant Phulkari dupatta from a modest store near the Golden Temple. I chose it simply because it was beautiful — unaware of the history, the labour, or the hands that brought it to life.
In Agra, I picked up a set of delicate inlay coasters from a tiny souvenir shop. My only reference point was that similar inlay work adorned the marble walls of the Taj Mahal. Once again, I admired the object — but knew nothing about the maker behind it.
Both pieces were shaped using techniques passed down through generations, created slowly and entirely by hand. Yet the creators remained invisible.
Surely, work carrying centuries of skill, patience, and cultural memory deserved more than anonymity. It deserved credit. It deserved connection. It deserved to be known.
As I began researching and speaking with artisans and artists across India, a deeper reality revealed itself. The people preserving some of the country's richest craft traditions were often the most undervalued within the system. Many artisans were underpaid, uncredited, and separated from the final value of their own work — their skill exploited, their names erased, their stories untold.
What began as curiosity became commitment.
Kala Curry was born from this turning point — from a desire to close the distance between maker and collector, to ensure artists and artisans are named, fairly valued, and paid on their own terms, and to bring objects with story, soul, and human touch back into everyday life.
OUR VALUES
Take a closer look at what matters most to us:
AUTHENTICALLY HANDCRAFTED
Everything on Kala Curry is made by hand by true karigars skilled in their craft.
Here’s how we make sure of that: We travel across the country to discover artists, attending exhibitions and experiencing their work up close. We also cross-verify with trusted third-party, non-governmental organisations that support and vet artists and artisan communities nationwide. Together, this helps ensure that each craft is authentic, sustainable, often multigenerational, and always made by hand.
SUPPORTS ARTISTS LIVELIHOOD
We earn through commissions, but never at the expense of fair value for the artist. Artists set their own prices and receive exactly what they ask for. Our marketing is intentional – we make sure to highlight artist names and stories so you know exactly whom you are supporting when you shop. Each order is fulfilled directly by the artist, keeping them closely connected to their work and their customers.
Artists have historically depended on exploitative middlemen to earn from their work. By making their names visible, we help shift power and opportunity back to the artist. This visibility also allows artists to access sales beyond Kala Curry, where people can directly reach out to an artist they want to work with.
SMALL BATCH PRODUCTION
Everything on Kala Curry is made by hand, which means it is never mass produced. We are proud to be 100 percent handcrafted, working with individual artists and small collectives. Because each piece is handmade in small batches or is entirely one of a kind, what you take home is truly unique.
This also guides our return and shipping policy. It encourages more conscious, intentional consumption — making the entire process of creating, shopping, and owning better for the environment.
CURATED WITH CARE
We curate our collection with the utmost care. India is home to over 3,000 craft forms. We seek out exceptional artisans within each one we explore. The artists we onboard are already innovating within their craft, reimagining inherited traditions into contemporary pieces that feel relevant today.
ABOUT THE TEAM
FOUNDER
RUCHIKA AGARWAL
SHE / HER
HOMETOWN:
Mumbai, Maharashtra
WHAT I DO:
Connecting artisans to a new generation — building a platform where craft, culture and community evolve together
WEBSITE DEVELOPER
ANIRUDH GOEL
HE / HIM
HOMETOWN:
Chandigarh, Punjab
WHAT I DO:
Helping handcrafted Indian art escape shop shelves and find its way onto screens around the world
SOCIAL MEDIA ASSOCIATE
SAMRIDDHI SURESH
SHE / HER
HOMETOWN:
Alleppey, Kerala
WHAT I DO:
Sneaking art into your everyday doomscroll
COPYWRITER
MAHI GHIA
SHE / HER
HOMETOWN:
Mumbai, Maharashtra
WHAT I DO:
Using words to bring people closer to handcrafted art and its makers
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
SUMITA SHETTY
SHE / HER
HOMETOWN:
Mumbai, Maharashtra
WHAT I DO:
Playing with my keyboard colours to bring handcrafted stories to life on screen