ALAIIA GUJRAL NAME TO KNOW

With an oeuvre that is instinctual and out-of-the-box, Alaiia Gujral is an artist and curator you should be on the lookout for!

- TEXT BY NAMRATA DEWANJEE

I‘m obsessed with nonfunctional functional furniture,” says Alaiia Gujral, “I love the idea that you could sit on a chair, but it is probably going to be sort of uncomfortable.” Why not just call it a sculpture? She replies, “There’s an invisible wall between sculpture and people who experience it, whereas with furniture, people aren’t afraid to touch it, sit on it, get on top of it.” For the Indian born, Chicago-based artist and curator, this is not just provocation but a deliberate way of thinking that breaks the longstanding boundary between fine art and collectible design. It makes you think about how