karl and meherbhai khandalawala gallery by Abhishek Ray from india

The design of the Karl and Meherbhai Khandawala gallery is based on two parallel narratives. The first weaves together the life of the eminent lawyer through his photo biography as a pilot, photographer, avid traveller and a collector of art. The second one is an assemblage of his personal collection as donated to the CSMVS ( Formerly The Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai) and consists of bronzes, miniature paintings, ivory and medals. The two narratives blend together visually through an arrangement which displays the collection and the photo-biography of Karl Khandalawala along the periphery of the space. The central area is defined by independent exhibition cases holding a milieu of collected art led by the exquisite Tara on one side and the Laughing Buddha on the other.
Efficient Climate Control and appropriate lighting maintains high degree of conservation standards in the space for the artwork. Lighting design strategies are directed for localised for the bronzes to exude their finesse and ornamentation. Contrary to this light reflected from batons of mounted LED fixtures illuminate the black and white photographs of the biography and the miniature paintings held in place in specialised cases below.
One of the focal points of the design was the erection of a wooden facade from Gujarat which holds an unique wooden form of a King from Patan in the state, seen through the central window. This assembly of two different collected art forms stands as an experiment in combining two diverse entities to create an interesting amalgamation of display art.
The Karl Khandalawala Gallery is an outstanding example of variable lighting strategy, minimalistic design interventions and innovative narrative concepts fructifying into the physical design of the space and the display strategy.