In Conversation with Kangan Arora

‘The dictionary is how I experienced colour when travelling in Japan - it was put together in the 1930’s but I was finding the same colours in today’s urban environment as I went around.The post office for example, was painted in the exact same palette that I discovered in the book - 90 years on. I was there running a design workshop and subsequently made some work inspired by old chirimen fabric archives. What struck me was the links I found between India and Japan, from their fascination of Madras checks in the Edo period to their patronage of Indian village textiles today.’ Kangan Arora

'I am always building my library of colour - through photography, drawing and collecting objects. Colour is also a very physical material to me, it’s not something I can digitally apply at the end of the design process. It’s often the starting point. We need to stay in touch with our material cultures, to see and touch - as designers and as human beings - digital materials and techniques although practical, lose a lot of the magic!’ Kangan Arora

The original Harlequin design is part of the Falling Shadows & Cosmic Check collections which was launched as part of LDF 2022. Falling Shadows was inspired by the way light cascades through windows and blinds which Kangan was taking note of when passing by houses during lockdown. The second part of this launch saw the Cosmic Check collection which is very much a celebration of op art, full of meticulous symmetry translated into graphic and textural rug designs.