Venetian artisans had been practising glass beadwork since the 12th century, but by the 16th century, the craft had become so refined that the beads were used as currency for barter among traders. The beads travelled across continents, from Europe to Africa through maritime routes, and eventually reached India through Gujarati cotton traders. Over time, they became part of local traditions in western and northern India.
That journey sits at the heart of Unbound by Beads: Migration, Memory & Material, an upcoming exhibition at London Craft Week 2026. Helmed by MOI Fine Jewellery, the contemporary offshoot of Aurus founded by husband-and-wife duo Puja and Kunal Shah, in collaboration with the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation’s Artisan Collective, the exhibition traces how these globally traded beads became part of matrilineal traditions within the Meghwal community of Barmer, in Rajasthan.
For Puja and Kunal, the project began with a larger question around what defines a collectable. “Over the last decade, I spoke to many people about this, and I discovered that very few could identify something they had acquired in the last decade that they would pass down to the next generation,” says Kunal. “That raised a question for us about what makes an object truly collectable.”
Their research led them to beadworking traditions shaped by the movement of Venetian glass beads from Europe to India. What struck them was how, over time, these beads had entered wedding customs in parts of the country. In remote communities across western India, young women make beaded objects alongside their mothers and female relatives in the years leading up to marriage, then carry them to their marital homes.
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