The Bond begins with an intimate inventory. Objects gathered since childhood, chosen, claimed, sometimes seized by instinct rather than inherited. Many once belonged to a mother, others to loved figures. They settle into daily life until occupied spaces become places of shelter. For Marie Gastini, these inert forms carry presence. Their charge is emotional. From this attachment arises a direct question. How can an affective bond take form.

Laureate of the Villa Swagatam* x Æquo prize, awarded at the 9th edition of the Design Parade festival organised by Villa Noailles in Toulon, Marie arrived in Mumbai to undertake her creative residency with Æquo in November 2025. Her project, exhibited here, is driven by a deliberate effort to gather and activate Indian craft heritage as a living and collective practice.

The textile and embroidered works were conceived through a true creative collaboration with Amal Embroideries, marking its first partnership with Æquo Gallery. Based in Mumbai, the ateliers engaged in a process of constant exchange and testing, allowing embroidery to move beyond surface and become structure and volume. Loop into loop. Knot into knot. The vocabulary of thread becomes a system of invisible bonds. The installation brings together an embroidered core, modular seating, and sculptural lights. Pearls, fastening systems, and small ornamental gestures drawn from childhood memory are reinterpreted as functional structures. Objects hold together through proximity, tension, and care. Created and presented by Æquo Gallery,The Bondreflects an editorial approach where affection becomes form.

*Villa Swagatam is a network of residencies run by the French Institute in India to promote the mobility of artists, designers and authors and foster cultural exchange between France, India and South Asia.