Milan Design Week becomes a vast world of design and furniture, with artists and designers from around the world embracing the fair. This year, Indian artisans have made quite a mark in Milan. The Shakti Residency by Sakshi Misra is among the interior design studios that brought the Indian craft to the week-long fair. In collaboration with Heirloom Naga Centre, the studio presented an undulating bench and an intriguing table.
Designed by two international designers in collaboration with local Indian artisans, the partnership presented new work from the second cohort of the residency, focusing on merging traditional Naga techniques with contemporary design. Both designers worked to develop a collection of woven cane furniture rooted in material exploration and cultural dialogue. The innovative, craft-driven pieces by Indian artisans were showcased at Alcova during the 2026 Milan Design Week.
Undulating Cane Bench
The undulating bench designed by Maria Tyakina showcases a sensitive and deliberate focus on the material. Giving the center stage to cane, she created the entire piece, not just the frame. She worked with the master artisan Ajaj Gour to adapt ancient Nagaland cane-bending techniques. She preserved the natural colors of the material and embraced the transformation marks, like the char left behind during the bending process.
By steam-bending thick cane poles, they created a structural skeleton that appears to flow continuously. Honoring every step of formation, she told Homecrux, “I wanted to show the material in its pure state, highlighting every step of the making.”
Cane-Woven Table
The second in the collection was the cane-woven table by Tadeas Podracky that became an expression of materials as well as a metaphysical transformation. The table features a solid tabletop made with locally sourced wood, hand-carved by a craftsman from the Konyak tribe. The cane base has a large, bulbous form made in collaboration with local artisans.
Rather than just offering support, the legs look like a soft, expanding mass that wraps around the slab, partially absorbing it. Podracky intentionally left the cane in its natural state, including the charred marks from steam bending and the material’s original skin, to celebrate its unrefined beauty. He told Homecrux. “I think of the result less as a fixed construction and more as something in ongoing transformation.”
At its core, the collaboration brought the international and local artists to narrate their stories and thoughts about contemporary design at the Milan Design Week. “Residencies like Shakti Residency create rare cultural intersections where designers, makers, and craftspeople collaborate as equals. These collaborations are not simply about product development, but also about knowledge exchange and mutual learning,” says Naga Heirloom Centre.
