Vikram Goyal brings Ramayana-inspired furniture and textiles to Mayfair
Vikram Goyal’s exhibition ‘Wings and Tales’ is being shown in a Georgian townhouse in London’s Mayfair. The collection of furniture and textiles draws on the Ramayana, using animals, plants, and handcrafted materials including silk, velvet, brass, silver, and mother-of-pearl. It follows Goyal’s earlier Soul Garden presentation and makes a case for the lasting relevance of ancient stories and craft.
Goyal's show occupies two rooms of a Georgian townhouse in Mayfair, London. It follows his 2025 Soul Garden presentation at Design Miami Paris, which referenced Panchatantra fables. The new work turns to the Ramayana, a roughly 3,000-year-old epic, and uses animal figures—vultures, monkeys, crocodiles—as symbols. Materials include embroidered silk, velvet, brocade, brass, silver, mother-of-pearl.
The installation is laid out like an Indian baithak, with a Samarkand-style rug, folding brass screen, seating, tables, vessels, mirrors around a fireplace. Another room evokes Madhuvana, the honey forest, with vine-patterned brass screens, rugs representing land, sea and air, and serving pieces decorated with jasmine.
Exhibitions like this may introduce wider London audiences to Indian epic storytelling and traditional craft, potentially benefiting artisans, collectors, and design audiences. By placing ancient narratives within contemporary collectible design, it could encourage slower, more culturally rooted approaches to interiors.