Winning work, The Lotus Headed, unveiled at India Art Fair 2026 New Delhi, February 2026
The Swali Craft Prize, founded by Karishma Swali and the Chanakya Foundation in partnership with India Art Fair, announces Natasha Preenja (Princess Pea) as its inaugural recipient.
From over 100 entries, the international jury selected Preenja for a practice defined by conceptual depth, technical mastery, and a profound engagement with cultural heritage. The Prize is proud to present her winning work, The Lotus Headed (2026), at the India Art Fair 2026.
Natasha Preenja is an Indian artist whose multidisciplinary practice draws on feminist thought, mythology, and traditional craft to examine gender, the body, and the politics of care. Working across painting, sculpture, performance, and collaborative processes, her practice foregrounds craft and collective making as sites of resistance, reflection, and women-led knowledge.
Selected by the jury as the winning proposal, The Lotus Headed was realised through a close and sustained dialogue between Natasha Preenja, Karishma Swali, and the Chanakya School of Craft, as a shared exploration of mythic iconography and contemporary collective practice. The sculpture draws from the figure of Lajja Gauri, an ancient embodiment of fertility who’s grounded uttanapad (squatting) posture is intimately tied to birth, reproductive cycles, and domestic ritual, anchoring the work in bodily knowledge that precedes language while also carrying political charge as a gesture of protest, reclamation, and endurance.
The depth of the work lies in its rigorous, multi-layered construction, beginning with thousands of individually hand-carved wooden elements from the toy-making tradition of Etikopakka, Andhra Pradesh, using native Ankudu wood (Wrightia tinctoria). In response, master artisans of Chanakya knitted and stitched these fragments into the sculpture’s surface, creating an organic, cellular texture through six strata of embroidery in jute and cotton, employing techniques such as couching and stem stitch. Anchored by a concealed steel framework, the form maintains monumentality alongside lightness and porosity. The project marks a profound
meeting of two methodologies: Preenja’s sculptural investigation into maternal resilience and the Chanakya School’s interdisciplinary material practice grounded in collective authorship, where the goddess emerges as a visceral force of endurance and the transmission of knowledge as an evolving, thinking practice.
Conceived as a platform to renew the cultural and conceptual possibilities of handcraft, the Swali Craft Prize recognizes contemporary makers whose work bridges tradition and innovation. By anchoring artistic expression in living artisanal knowledge, the prize offers a dual framework: a grant of INR 11,00,000 and a fully funded residency at the Chanakya School of Craft. This structure provides sustained access to mentorship, research, and collaborative engagement with master artisans, enabling ambitious, research-led artistic production.
Karishma Swali, Founder & Creative Director of the Chanakya School | Creative Director Chanakya added:
“The Swali Craft Prize emerged from a desire to create conditions where contemporary artistic inquiry could unfold in close conversation with living craft traditions. Natasha’s work embodies this philosophy. The Lotus Headed unfolded through dialogue, trust, and shared authorship, transforming individual intention into a collective expression. It reflects our belief that craft is not a static inheritance, but a dynamic language capable of shaping new cultural futures.”
Jaya Asokan, Fair Director, India Art Fair, commented:
“India Art Fair is proud to partner in a prize that foregrounds craft as a vital contemporary practice. By championing experimentation, material intelligence, and collective processes, the Swali Craft Prize creates a powerful platform for new voices and new forms, positioning India at the forefront of global craft discourse.”
The inaugural jury featured a distinguished panel of experts: Mickalene Thomas, visual artist; Jasmine Wahi, curator and founder of Project for Empty Space; and Meneesha Kellay, Senior Curator, Contemporary, at the Victoria and Albert Museum; Reena Kallat, visual artist alongside Karishma Swali and Jaya Asokan, Fair Director of the India Art Fair. Together, the jury evaluated applications based on technical mastery, conceptual depth, cultural significance, and artistic innovation.
Reflecting on the award, Natasha Preenja (Princess Pea) said:
“This residency offered a rare space for deep listening, exchange, and experimentation. Working alongside the master artisans of Chanakya allowed the sculpture to evolve in ways I could not have anticipated, as wood, thread, and gesture came together to hold stories of resilience, care, and inheritance. The Lotus Headed is as much a tribute to the collective act of making as it is to the mothers who carry generations within them.”
About Natasha Preenja
(Princess Pea)
Princess Pea (Natasha Preenja) is an Indian artist whose multidisciplinary practice explores gender identity, the body, and self-worth. Drawing from feminist literature, mythology, and traditional crafts, her work examines the politics of care, domesticity, and women-led narratives of self. Trained as a painter, she works across drawing, photography, sculpture, and performance.
Through her alter ego Princess Pea — a figure concealed behind an anime-inspired headgear — Preenja challenges patriarchal norms and reclaims spaces of reflection and solidarity. Her collaborative and time-based projects foster intergenerational dialogue among women, positioning care and craft as acts of resistance.
In 2008, she founded The Pea Family Studio, collaborating with artisans from Etikopakka, Andhra Pradesh, to merge ancient turn-wood techniques with contemporary form. Her recent works in marble reference Mother Earth as a keeper of time and knowledge. Preenja’s socially engaged projects include Care with Dignity (Purpose, Bihar) and Extra Time (Khoj, Goa). Her work has been exhibited at Sakshi Gallery, Exhibit320, Shrine Empire, and Art Dubai, among others, and is held in the collections of the Mead Art Museum and the Museum of Living History. She lives and works in Gurgaon, India.
About Chanakya Foundation & Chanakya School
Established in 1984 in Mumbai, Chanakya has remained steadfast in its mission to elevate and sustain the pluralistic beauty of India’s rich cultural heritage. Under Karishma Swali’s leadership, Chanakya has built enduring creative partnerships with over 50 global fashion houses, celebrated artists, and craft practitioners positioning Indian handcraftsmanship within the highest echelons of contemporary visual culture. Central to its philosophy is a profound re-evaluation of the conventional hierarchies that have historically delineated the roles of artist and artisan. By fostering a renewed discourse, it challenges these long-standing distinctions, recognizing embroidery not as a decorative technique but as a medium of conceptual and material innovation.
Recognising a compelling need to address social, economic, and environmental challenges, Karishma Swali established the Chanakya Foundation in 2015. The foundation is committed to fostering cultural sustainability and holistic advancement through education, skill development, and dedicated efforts to preserve India’s rich artisanal heritage while promoting the arts. In 2016, Karishma Swali furthered this vision by founding the Chanakya School of Craft, a non-profit institution dedicated to empowering women through craft, culture, and creating a new autonomy for women.
In 2020, she and the graduated artisans of the Chanakya School of Craft collaborated with American feminist artist Judy Chicago to create 22 monumental hand embroidered artworks, currently on display at the New Museum in New York. The following year, they partnered with French contemporary artist Eva Jospin to produce “Chambre De Soie” (Silk Room), a 40-meter immersive gallery. In 2024, the Chanakya Foundation presented the artistic collaboration between renowned Indian artists Madhvi Parekh and Manu Parekh, in partnership with Karishma Swali and the Chanakya School of Craft. This exhibition, titled ‘Cosmic Garden,’ was featured as a collateral event of the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Most recently, in 2025, Karishma Swali and the Chanakya School of Craft presented En Route at the Vatican Apostolic Library — an artistic collaboration with Maria Grazia Chiuri exploring the cultural legacy of women who challenged historical norms.
About Karishma Swali
Karishma Swali (b. 1977, Mumbai) is an artist and craft practitioner committed to preserving India’s intangible cultural heritage. Influenced by the philosophies of Rabindranath Tagore and Jiddu Krishnamurti, she leads Chanakya International and founded the Chanakya Foundation in 2015 to advance cultural sustainability and skill
development. In 2016, she established the Chanakya School of Craft, a nonprofit institution dedicated to empowering women through craft and culture. The school’s holistic curriculum teaches over 300 hand-embroidery techniques and has trained more than 1,300 women. Swali’s interdisciplinary practice situates handcraftsmanship within a contemporary framework, engaging in significant collaborations with celebrated artists including Judy Chicago, Mickalene Thomas, Faith Ringgold, and Barthélémy Toguo. In 2024, she presented Cosmic Garden at La Biennale di Venezia with Indian artists Manu and Madhvi Parekh. Most recently, En Route was unveiled at the Vatican Apostolic Library (2025). Her contributions have been widely recognised on an international stage. In 2022, she received the Grazia Millennial Award for Contemporary Craftsmanship and was named to the BoF 500. In 2024, she was honoured with the Badass Art Woman Award (BAWA) for her pioneering work in education through craft, and in the same year was conferred the Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite. In 2025, she received the Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the Consul General of France in Mumbai, on behalf of the French government, and was also awarded the Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia by the Consul General of Italy.
