When artist Natasha Preenja famously known as Princess Pea visited Jaipur to collaborate with women carpet weavers, their quiet rhythmic handwork and often unseen labour gave her an idea — to make them more noticeable. She made each of them wear a big round Pea head with building eyes. While it made them faceless, the invisibility acted as an equalizer. It brought instant attention to these women artisans who tirelessly work in their domestic world.
“The act of wearing the head became a quiet yet powerful declaration of identity, visibility, and belonging. Here, the head – once a symbol of anonymity – stands against the landscape like an emblem of strength. It conceals, yet reveals; it softens, yet asserts. Each image, like each knot, becomes a testament to resilience – a reminder that art and craft, body and self, can together weave new meanings of freedom and dignity,” shares Jaipur Rugs in its collaboration post with multi-disciplinary artist Princess Pea.
Princess Pea’s experiment was part of her collaboration with Jaipur Rugs for a new carpet collection, ‘DAYS’. The newly launched series of hand-knotted carpet moves beyond décor to become a textured vocabulary of endurance, introspection, and reclamation. Interestingly, the series theme borrows from the artist’s reflection on menstruation — a natural, life-giving cycle often surrounded by stigma. Here, Princess Pea introduces figures of the mother, father, sister, and couple onto the hand-knotted carpets in a metaphorical gesture to showcase how the entire household has to cradle the woman through her “days.” The theme reframes domesticity as a haven of empathy instead of silence.
The new collection ‘DAYS’ thus becomes a subtle yet powerful way to notice the unrecognised labour, self-worth, and relook at gender roles with a renewed lens. “DAYS’ beautifully captures the spirit of what we stand for at Jaipur Rugs — the intersection of art, craft, and human emotion,” says Yogesh Chaudhary, Director, Jaipur Rugs. “What began as a meaningful project with the Jaipur Rugs Foundation has evolved into a powerful artistic collaboration that gives voice to women whose stories are often unheard. Through Princess Pea’s vision and the hands of our artisans, this collection transforms everyday labour into a language of dignity, resilience, and self-expression.”
Developed over months inside real homes and lived environments, ‘DAYS’ reflects the cyclical nature of a woman’s life — her ability to withstand, to nurture, to pause, and to begin again. Each rug becomes a moment within this journey, expressed through colour and rhythm with carpets in the collection titled ‘Day 1 – Blue’ signifying depth, and contemplation. Day 2 – Pink sands for softness, and vulnerability. ‘Day 3 – Mustard’ is rooted in the persistence, and grit of a woman. ‘Day 4 – Salmon’ is symbolic of the warmth, and the spirit of renewal that a woman embodies.
Visually, the rugs evolve from Princess Pea’s miniature silk paintings and are reinterpreted through the hands of Jaipur Rugs’ women weavers. This shift from brushstroke to knot is not merely a translation of technique; it is a transfer of energy offering an intimate exchange of touch, time, and resilience. Each carpet thus becomes a living archive of collaboration, blending the artist’s vision with the artisan’s rhythm in the process of creation.
