IN THE SOUL GARDEN, DESIGNER VIKRAM GOYAL AND ARTIST SISSEL TOLAAS RECREATE THE SIGHTS AND SMELLS OF AN ANIMAL WONDERLAND.

Five protagonists from the Panchatantra and other ancient animal fables came alive in The Soul Garden, an installation by designer Vikram Goyal in collaboration with artist Sissel Tolaas, presented by The Future Perfect at Design Miami.

- TEXT: SOHINI DEY PHOTOS: ALI MONIS NAQVI

Paris 2025. Showcasing the brass metalwork of Goyal's studio, The Soul Garden was made more immersive with an olfactory experience created by Tolaas, the Berlin-based founder of Smell Research Lab. Renowned for her work in translating scent into a medium for storytelling, she created a smell that simultaneously evoked the wild habitats of animals and the ambience of a metalwork karkhana.

Goyal's oeuvre testifies to his ability to make magic out of metal, hammering and moulding brass into objects and installations that defy both size and artistic ambition. Even by this measure, The Soul Garden—which was installed in the gardens of Hôtel de Maisons (once home to Karl Lagerfeld in Paris)—looked and felt exceptional.