The pandemic has dampened the iconic Kala Ghoda Art Festival (KGAF) for the past few years. The nine-day-long festival didn’t just turn the neighbourhood into a cultural hotspot, but also gave local artists an avenue to reach the right audience. Unable to host the festival for two years, the KGAF team launched the marketplace online with Kala Ghoda Art Kart in December 2021. We went shopping and here’s what we found.

To start, it does justice to the KGAF legacy; it is a curated marketplace for handpicked brands, artisans, artists, craftsmen and small-scale enterprises. The downside is that the options are limited. Brands such as Agapi from Deorali, Gangtok, offer sustainable skincare products; Asama from Guwahati has home décor accessories made from natural fibre; Project Purkul from Dehradun is a collective that makes cloth-based handicrafts; and Tupa from Haryana brings jewellery. You’ll also find Disguise cosmetics—a PETA approved cosmetics brand—Armature candles from Varanasi, Gulmohar’s handcrafted soaps from Raigad, and a textile jewellery brand called Studio Naach, Kuppikali’s pipe lamps. Shaleen Shah’s abstract art and Floursha hand-painted serveware are worth checking out. As for the pricing, they are affordable and each brand has a good range to pick from.