The British Indian Front Room in 1987

Museum of the Home
136 Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am–5pm (last entry 4pm)

Welcome to Nutkhut’s British Indian Front Room, created and curated by Ajay Chhabra and Simmy Gupta.

This is a glimpse into the home of a British Hindu family from 1987.

The family are tailors who specialise in shalwar kameez and sari blouses and celebrate and make Christmas as wholeheartedly as Diwali!

This is a lived-in space, and Nutkhut’s mission has been to bring the private into the public. It’s a workshop, family room, and dining room all wrapped into one – recreated from memory; it’s a space that struggles to be tidy. We hope people will recognise the order in the chaos.

The Indian Diaspora has a global footprint, from soldiers to refugees, tech entrepreneurs to students, and sugar cane farmers to factory workers. This movement has manifested in our own personal family lives – our homes embraced these changes and often became a temporary stop-off point for many.

Inspired by childhood memories and the lived experiences of Nutkhut’s artistic directors, Simmy Gupta and Ajay Chhabra, the room reflects and captures the spirit of a diaspora family with a global Indian footprint, from India to Fiji to Malaysia and to the UK.

All items donated or loaned by Nutkhut’s friends, family and broader audiences:

Bhasker Patel
Geeta Chhabra
Shuja Shams
Sushma Kumari
Late Suraj Kali
Rehan Sheikh
Tutvinder Singh Maan
Suneeda Maruthiyil

Museum of the Home
Museum of the Home
Museum of the Home
Museum of the Home
Museum of the Home
Museum of the Home
Museum of the Home
Museum of the Home
Museum of the Home
Museum of the Home
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