In December 2025, on the eve of the Kochi–Muziris Biennale, Moi Fine Jewelry unveiled Unbound by Beads at the House of Vandy, Fort Kochi, an intimate, research-led cultural presentation that brought together fine jewelry, anthropology, and contemporary art. Spanning three days from 11–13 December, the showcase welcomed Biennale visitors, collectors, artists, and cultural historians into a layered narrative that traced the journey of glass beads across time, geography, and women’s lives.
Image: Jewelry pieces presented in dialogue with an archival ritual object at Unbound by Beads.
Emerging from a year-long field study across the Kutch and Kathiawar regions of Gujarat, Unbound by Beads examined beadwork not as ornament, but as a powerful material language. Through archival objects and contemporary interpretations, the presentation revealed how glass beads, arriving in India via 17th-century trade routes connecting Venice, West Asia, and Africa, were absorbed into the social fabric of Kutchhi women’s communities. Over generations, these beads became markers of lineage, marital status, regional belonging, and feminine authorship, transforming everyday materials into wearable archives of identity and memory.
At the heart of the exhibition were rare archival beadwork objects created centuries ago by women of Kutch, each bearing the quiet intensity of thousands of hours of labour. These intricately woven pieces encoded personal and collective histories, stories of inheritance, social position, and continuity, while also drawing attention to a tradition now at risk of fading. Displayed alongside them were Moi’s Collectibles, a limited-edition fine jewelry series that extends this lineage into the present.
The exhibition unfolded as a dialogue between past and present. Historical artefacts and contemporary jewelry were placed in conversation to reveal beadwork’s transformation across time, how a material once central to women’s inner worlds could be reimagined within a contemporary design vocabulary while retaining its cultural weight. This recalibration of value, where glass beads sit alongside gold, diamonds, and gemstones, invited viewers to reconsider notions of luxury, preciousness, and what constitutes a modern heirloom.
Adding a contemporary lens to the narrative were large-scale sculptural interventions by artists Emmanuel Tausing (Zachuong) and Thian Hoi. Working with beads collected by Moi over the years, the artists created immersive forms that allowed the material to be encountered at scale, not as decoration but as accumulated history. Their practices, rooted in cultural contexts where beadwork also functions as a marker of identity and ritual, brought a resonant parallel to the Kutchhi traditions explored in the research. An immersive video installation further deepened the experience, inviting visitors to reflect on inheritance, memory, and the objects that shape personal and collective identity.
Image: Sculptural bead installations by Emmanuel Tausing and Thian Hoi at Unbound by Beads, Kochi.
Kochi, an ancient port city shaped by maritime exchange, served as a meaningful setting for the project. Just as beads once travelled across oceans and continents before finding local meaning in Gujarat, Kochi’s own history of movement and encounter mirrored the themes at the core of Unbound by Beads. Positioned within the larger conversation of the Biennale, the showcase reflected on interconnected histories and shared worlds, revealing how global materials are transformed through local hands and lived experience.
Ultimately, Unbound by Beads reaffirmed Moi Fine Jewelry’s commitment to research-led design and craft preservation. By centring process, context, and women’s histories, the project offered a nuanced cultural experience, one that bridged anthropology and adornment, archive and innovation. As glass beads wove their luminous thread from Kutch to Kochi, the exhibition stood as a quiet yet powerful reminder that some of the most enduring forms of design are born not for display, but for life itself.
Image: Excerpt from Robb Report on Unbound by Beads.
For those who wish to explore these perspectives further, we invite you to read the features by Robb Report and The Voice of Fashion.
Image: Kunal and Puja Shah at Unbound by Beads, Kochi — featured in The Voice of Fashion.
