The interiors of Dali and Gala
The interiors of Dali and Gala

Surreal salvador comes to town

Designed by Siddharth Kerkar, artist, and restaurateur and Jatin Hukkeri, architect and founder of WDA Spaces, it is a salute to surrealism with 130-plus artworks that reflect Dalí’s spirit.
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What would it look like if Salvador Dalí designed a bar today? Elaborate, eccentric and unexpected. Doffing its hat to this surrealist’s genius is Dali & Gala, a 1,500 sqft, 69-seater bar located in the Museum building on Museum Road, Bengaluru. Designed by Siddharth Kerkar, artist, and restaurateur and Jatin Hukkeri, architect and founder, WDA Spaces, it is a salute to surrealism with 130-plus artworks that reflect Dalí’s spirit.

They embrace bold, dreamlike concepts, presenting a modern homage to the maverick artist. The entire space is a riot of colour—bright red walls filled with photo frames, teal and yellow sofas, and green walls adorned with multi-hued paintings. The maximalist interiors are neatly demarcated into six unique spaces.

The Rose Room is an intimate corner themed around romance while the Animal Room is a nod to Dalí’s animal sculptures. The Rooster Room is inspired by Portugal’s national bird. The Mirror Room showcases the people behind Dali & Gala, with over 50 photographs of the chefs, bartenders, labourers, delivery partners, electricians, and artists. A mirror between the photographs is a reminder to guests that they have contributed to making Dali & Gala.

Dalí’s Library room has several works centering around word play and philosophy. Room One toasts the success of Room One (a speakeasy) in Goa; the smoking section has been turned into a miniature version of the Goan Room One featuring Fluffy the giant dinosaur, rotating fish jars and the iconic yellow five-seater couch that can seat ten on a packed night.

“The piece here created around smoke features a two-headed sculpture emerging from a body of water with smoke jetting out. The head on one side is of Dali and the other is Gala, his wife, and celebrates their inseparability,” explains Siddharth. The bar counter exhibits his signature style of beaten copper featuring over 80 hand-beaten eyes, also made of copper. This creates a surreal effect of the bar looking back at you when you look at it.

“Eclectic light pieces chosen from an antique store in Goa, handmade peppercorn floor lamps by Siddharth, motorised swinging ant-style pendant light and abstract vagina-inspired ceiling mounted light fixtures are key elements used in the space which are well punctuated by the use of candles,” says Jatin. A conscious choice was made to let the flooring remain as muted as possible so the works are the highlights. “The art here is the foundation around which the space is made; where serious contemporary art takes the mainstage,” says Jatin.

Some of the works are site-specific and created around sparking conversations of visitors; others are interactive for guests to engage. “As an artist I believe that art has the power to create dialogue and give new perspectives to people. The artworks have been created with almost childlike thinking; each has a story around themes of humour, surrealism, and adultery,” explains Siddharth.

Designing the space, however, came with its own dares. “The height of the ceiling was low. The beam height was lower. There were numerous and unevenly scattered columns, which were initially challenging but turned out to be a blessing in disguise thanks to the segmentation of the space. The absence of windows or fenestrations in any form actually helped us to envision the right lighting scheme for the space,” says Jatin.

Perhaps, a tribute to Dali’s design sensibility in Bengaluru was worth waiting for. The Dali Theatre and Museum in Figueras, Spain, is ‘the largest surrealistic object in the world’. It was conceived by Dali himself. It took over a decade between working on the design and its completion in 1974: an idiosyncratic mix of Moorish architecture, sculptures and figurines with images of bread rolls on the wall, and giant egg sculptures lined along the roof’s parapet. Dali wanted “my museum to be like a single block, a labyrinth, a surrealist object… People who come to see it will leave with the sensation of having had a theatrical dream.” Dali & Gala is a good effort to celebrate that dream.

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The New Indian Express
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