Gauravi Kumari’s PDKF Collective situates the palace as platform

Explore Gauravi Kumari's PDKF Collective, empowering Rajasthan's artisans through visibility, patronage, and transformative craft initiatives.

Art grows where patronage recognises it. For centuries, palaces and royal households understood this and nurtured crafts, sustained guilds, and offered artisans continuity. Museums, conversely, often stand as mausoleums of that generosity, vitrines filled with the residue of power once exercised thoughtfully.

But every so often, patronage steps out of the archives into the present tense. The second edition of the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation (PDKF, a Rajasthan-based non-profit) Collective, held on the grounds of Jaipur’s City Palace, did precisely that.

The Collective is helmed by princess Gauravi Kumari, who is also an ambassador for luxury brands such as Jimmy Choo and Kama Ayurveda. But at home, the young royal’s focus is on PDKF.

Gauravi Kumari (fourth from right) with a few artisans

What began as an intimate curation of 30 artisans last year, expanded to nearly 70 this time — with a focus on crafts originating from Rajasthan such as block prints, lac and patwa jewellery. We also spotted a Kanchipuram weaver and an artisan from Dharwad in Karnataka with kasuti embroidery.

According to designer Anamika Khanna, platforms such as the Collective matter because they do more than showcase work, they create visibility and belief. “When women see other women leading and creating, it quietly affirms that they can do the same — as designers, as entrepreneurs, as the face of their own journeys.”