SARMAYA ARTS FOUNDATION'S NEW SPACE IN MUMBAI'S FORT AREA SHOWS HOW PRIVATE ARCHIVES CAN ENRICH INDIAN SCHOLARSHIP.

In the sunny, welcoming reading nook of the Sarmaya Arts Foundation, there is an expansive collection of over 12,000 rare books and artefacts vying for visitors' attention.

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This privately owned collection, housed in Fort's iconic Lawrence & Mayo building, is an intersection of the past and the present. The conversations here progress seamlessly from East India Company-issued coinage to contemporary Warli artists like the Vayeda Brothers.

But the more observant visitor's gaze shifts upwards to a hand-beaten brass installation, suspended under a Burma teak ceiling, that snakes across the room. Made by the design firm led by Pavitra Rajaram, Sarmaya's brand custodian and partner to founder Paul Abraham, it represents the coastline of India in a disconnected form—a nod to the porosity of the country's cultural borders. “It signifies how ideas could permeate in and out of India,” says Rajaram.