Overview
- The India Pavilion returned to the 61st Venice Biennale after a seven-year gap in a partnership that includes India’s Ministry of Culture, the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, and the Serendipity Arts Foundation.
- Nita Ambani marked the Venice opening in a custom Anamika Khanna saree and a handwoven Sozni shawl, pairing the textiles with sculptural Wallace Chan earrings carved from rosewood with titanium roots set with sapphire and ruby.
- At the Met Gala on Monday, May 5, Isha Ambani wore a Gaurav Gupta saree with a bodice built from more than 200 old mine-cut diamonds and heirlooms from Nita Ambani, including a sarpech linked to the Nizam of Hyderabad, with reports putting the total stones near 1,800 carats.
- She also carried a 20-year-old mango sculpture by contemporary artist Subodh Gupta, turning a red-carpet accessory into a literal artwork to reinforce the fashion-as-art idea.
- Jewellery commentators highlighted how the Ambanis’ pieces showcased Indian gem traditions such as polki, kundan and meenakari, with influencer Julia Chafe praising the focus on natural diamonds drawn from family collections.