Curator Puja Vaish discovered ceramic works by artist Vijoo Sadwelkar in the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation's collection, leading her to Haresh Mehta, who preserved original works from the Vitrum studio. This resulted in the exhibition "A Glazed History: Badri Narayan & the Vitrum Studio" at the JNAF Gallery at CSMVS Museum in Mumbai, the first retrospective of the studio that operated from the 1950s to the 1970s. Vitrum, founded by emigre glass expert Simon Lifschutz and his wife Hanna, blended art, craft, and design by having artists create hand-painted ceramic tiles and Venetian glass mosaics for everyday homes.
This exhibition matters because it recovers a lost fragment of post-Independence Indian art history, highlighting a studio that democratized art by making it accessible to ordinary households rather than elite collectors. By showcasing the collaborative work of artists like Badri Narayan and Vijoo Sadwelkar, it challenges conventional art historical narratives and underscores the importance of preserving and studying experimental, cross-disciplinary practices from India's mid-20th century.