Li’s Forecast #6

Pots and Pans

Lidewij Edelkoort

Column

November 2025

Lidewij Edelkoort

is one of the world’s most beloved and influential forecasters. Each month, she writes a column for See All This titled The Future is Handmade, where she shares her views on a handmade future and spotlights unique handmade objects. For Edelkoort, these objects are more than just beautiful — they represent a quiet form of resistance against an increasingly artificial future. Today: intentional cooking with Indian ceramic pots.

Column

November 2025

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What’s in a name? Both Gupta and Gupta are dedicating their creative practice to the observation of everyday Indian households and their opulent pots and pans. These reflect on the transformation and tradition of culture, whilst displaying their artful relevance and economic ambivalence. One Gupta is using the objects as they are, accumulating them as an ode to normality, observing the polished ordinary indulgence in everything. The other Gupta is redesigning the utensils at their source, scrutinising them with a critical eye, proving the aesthetics of utility in the process. One thrives by accumulation, the other excels by approbation. Both advance on the strength of tradition.

Subodh Gupta (b. 1964), also called ‘the Damien Hirst of Dehli’, is a world-famous artist that has made his countries’ icons into dense symbolic installations; a physical echoing of claxoning vespa’s and hooting rickshaws. Meanwhile, Gunjan Gupta (b. 1974) is on her way to become a well-known designer recognised by the creative community. Subodh was the first artist from India that used indigenous materials and objects, staying true to his origins and customs of the products of poverty. Gunjan is working close to her origins and the memories of her mother, nostalgic to the festive homegrown foods of her childhood.

Lidewij Edelkoort

‘She triggers a wish for intentional cooking and tea drinking, enabling the processes with her simple seductive tools’