On Stopping to Stare at Shadows
Founded five years ago, The Art Curry has grown into a community that hosts workshops, public gatherings and travelling art experiences across India. At its core is a simple idea: creativity should be accessible to anyone willing to show up and make something with their hands. We spoke to Siddhant, co-founder of The Art Curry, about building those spaces, why smaller cities matter, and what it means to make art feel accessible again.
The Art Curry has become a large space for creativity and community. How did it begin?
‘The Art Curry began about five years ago from a very simple need. One of our co-founders, Shruti, is a mixed-media artist, and she felt there weren't many spaces where she could share her work or be part of a community around it. That became the starting point. We wanted to create a space where people could come together to make art, talk about it and share it.
At its core, The Art Curry is for anyone who wants to create, regardless of their experience. You could be a practising artist or someone picking up a paintbrush for the first time. We don't think of creativity as something limited to fine art either. If it's a way for someone to express themselves, it belongs here.
For the past few years, we've been working towards democratising art. For many people, the last time they engaged with it was in school.
When did you realise it had become bigger than a series of workshops?
"It was about two years ago. During one of our recurring workshops, we noticed a few people had returned together. They told us they'd met at a previous workshop and had since started meeting every week to make art at someone's home. We created the space for that first meeting, but everything that followed happened naturally."
That changed the way I thought about what we were building. The real impact was in creating a space where people could find one another and continue those relationships long after the event had ended.’
Somewhere along the way, creativity becomes something we admire in other people instead of something we practise ourselves.
We wanted to build a space that makes returning to it feel accessible. That feels even more important today. We're constantly surrounded by information and noise. The moment you wake up, you're scrolling through a mix of good news, bad news and everything in between. It can be overwhelming.
An offline space changes that rhythm. People come in, spend a few hours making something with their hands, talking to people they might never have met otherwise, and leave feeling a little more present than when they arrived.
If we can create more moments like that for more people, then that's exactly why The Art Curry exists.’
Has building The Art Curry changed the way you move through the world?
‘100%. I've never been an artist myself. I wasn't even someone who thought about art all that much. But over the last 5 years of building The Art Curry, not just me but all of us have started noticing the smaller things.
It could be the curve of a footpath, a lamp, a really crunchy leaf, or the way light falls through a window and creates a pattern. Earlier, I would've just looked at it as a shadow. Now I stop to think, “It looks beautiful.”
That's probably the biggest change.
You start seeing things you would've ignored before. It doesn't have to be a painting or a sculpture. You realise there are so many textures, colours and little moments around you that are worth stopping for, even if it's just for a few seconds.’
In a world where so much of our lives happens online, why do you think people still choose to show up in person?
‘I think the answer is actually very simple. You can't replace the feeling of sitting on grass. Those are real experiences. You're completely present in that moment.
Online, there's always a screen between you and whatever you're experiencing. It's never quite the same.
Technology can do a lot of things, but I don't think it can replace the feeling of simply being somewhere.
Whether it's sitting on a blanket in a park or making something with your hands, those are experiences you have to be physically present for. That's what makes them meaningful.’
Many offline experiences are discovered online. How do you balance the two?
‘For us, it has never been about choosing one over the other. Offline and online go hand in hand. Online is often where people discover us. They come across our work on Instagram, sign up for a workshop and eventually become part of the community.
But it also works the other way around. Someone attends an event, goes home, looks us up online and stays connected through what we share. Most of what we post isn't even about our events. It's about making conversations around art more approachable.
We don't see social media as separate from what we do. It's an extension of it.
If someone watches a reel, reads a post and feels a little less intimidated about trying something creative, that's just as important to us as someone showing up to a workshop.
At the end of the day, the goal is the same across both spaces. We want more people to feel like art is something they can participate in, not just observe.’
If Instagram disappeared tomorrow, do you think The Art Curry would still exist?
‘That's a difficult one. Today, discovery happens online more often than not, so platforms like Instagram definitely matter. But there's another side to it as well.
You can make a poster, put up flyers, visit college campuses and tell people about what you're building. More importantly, people tell each other. I think word of mouth is still far more powerful than social media.
If someone comes to one of our events, enjoys it and then tells a friend to come along next time, that's a very different kind of invitation from someone simply coming across our Instagram page.
So whether Instagram exists or not, I think the experience itself has to be strong enough that people want to share it. That's always been more important than the platform you're publishing on.’
The Art Walk feels like a new chapter for The Art Curry. What led you to take the community on the road?
‘The Art Walk is really our way of extending the community to more people. At the heart of everything we do is making art more accessible, and we know that cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore are already well served. There are plenty of communities, events and brands investing in those places because that's where the audiences are.
For us, though, it has never been about the size of the audience. It's about taking these experiences to places where they might not exist otherwise.
Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities don't always have access to the same kind of creative spaces, so it felt like the right place to begin.
The Art Walk is also a much lighter format than a large festival, which means we can travel, experiment and understand how different cities respond.
We're still learning. In many ways, this is our testing phase. We know we can host an event in Delhi, and people will come, but we're much more interested in understanding what happens when you create that same space somewhere that's been overlooked.
We genuinely believe these cities have so much to contribute to the conversation around art, even if it's simply someone picking up a paintbrush again after years. For us, that's enough.’
You've taken these walks to places like Jaipur and Himachal, cities that don't usually sit at the centre of India's contemporary art conversation. What have they shown you that bigger cities haven't?
‘Cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have naturally become more commercial over time. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but when you spend time in smaller cities, you notice that a lot of craft traditions have been preserved differently.
If you visit a leather workshop in a smaller city and compare it to one in a metro, you'll often see a different relationship to the craft and to the way it's been passed down through generations.
That's what I find exciting. If someone wants to understand the artistic identity of a place, I think cities like Jaipur, Dharamkot, Ahmedabad or Patna are incredible places to start.
Local practices still shape them in a way that's becoming harder to find elsewhere.’
Communities seem to be everywhere today, but sustaining one is much harder than starting one. What has helped The Art Curry endure?
‘A lot of it comes from understanding that building a community isn't just about having a good idea. There are so many mechanics behind it that people don't always see.
All three of us come from events and marketing, so we've spent years understanding how experiences are built, how brands think, and how people engage with them. That foundation has definitely helped us.
At the same time, a community is always changing. People move to different cities, go for higher studies, get married, or simply move into a different phase of life. That's natural. So if you want a community to stay alive, new people have to keep finding their way into it.
At the centre of everything we've done is the idea of making art accessible. We want as many people as possible to experience it without feeling like they need to be artists first.
Of course, the practical side has to work as well. The finances have to make sense, the logistics have to make sense, and you have to understand how partnerships fit into all of that. But more than anything, you have to stay authentic.
You have to keep enjoying what you're building because the moment that excitement disappears, people can feel it. I think that's what has kept The Art Curry alive.’
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How do you feel about this growing culture of offline spaces?
‘I actually think it's a good thing. At the end of the day, our goal has always been to help more people engage with art. If there are more communities encouraging people to step away from their phones and spend a weekend making something with their hands, then we're all moving in the same direction.
It doesn't have to be The Art Curry doing all of it. If another community gets someone interested in art, that's a win as well.
We're all adding to the same conversation, and I think that's only healthy.’
What does success look like to you?
‘I'm still figuring that out. But one thing never gets old. Watching people have a good time at our events, seeing them make friends, and then watching them come back together the next time. There's something very real about that.
I've always enjoyed creating experiences where people feel welcome. Happiness is contagious.
When you see people laughing, talking and connecting because of something you've put together, it's hard to describe that feeling.
Of course, there are things you can measure. Views on a video, a partnership with a brand, and the number of people who show up. Those things matter.
But nothing really compares to seeing someone leave with a smile because of an experience you created. I think that's still the best measure of success for me.’
