Lél

Second-generation stone inlay atelier, Peshawar. Founded by Farhana Asad. Artistic Director: Meherunnisa Asad
Shared authorship.

03/10/2026

Happiest wandering these alleys in Peshawar. Little homemade machines, resilient hands that keep working stone, and the stone itself….the journey it made from a mountain far away. Carrying away some precious finds.

25/09/2026

Cairo 23.09.2026 🤍

18/09/2026

Studio Lél in Architectural Digest Middle East .

In conversation with Aisha Zaman , we talk about the language of parchin kari (pietra dura), the knowledge held within the atelier, and what happens when stone moves beyond the surface.

From Peshawar to Homo Faber in Venice, we explore how a work takes shape through the exchange between artist, artisan and material- where “the geology is the content, not the caption.”

We also talk about our collaboration with , and the value of looking beyond the finished object to the knowledge and human intelligence that make it possible.

Read the full story at the link in bio.

14/09/2026

Looking back at Homo Faber, I keep coming back to the people.

To Es Devlin, and to Alberto Cavalli and the whole Michelangelo Foundation team - Andrea, Michele and so many others - who made this possible and welcomed my mother and me so generously. To the Rupert family, whose vision stands behind it all.

And to Piaget, whose support made the demonstration possible. It meant a great deal to have their CEO and CMO come and spend time with us, and learn about our practice in person.

Then all the people who came to our workbench. Artists, designers, curators, journalists, collectors whose work I have followed and admired for years. To finally meet so many of them in person, and to have them spend time with us and with the work, was something special.

To the Indian community and JSW, representing India so beautifully and bringing such warmth. When I spoke about this side or that side of the border, the answer was simply, “It’s all one.” I really loved that. There was something very moving about it.

And then the people I had never met. Visitors who stopped because something caught their eye, asked a question, stayed a while.

Someone told me Homo Faber had given them hope for humanity.

I think I understand why.

11/09/2026

An Atelier Alive - Homo Faber 2026, Venice.

Under the artistic direction of Es Devlin , this year’s biennial explored the relationship between light, materials and the human hand

Threshold Study I and Fold sit in the same space - two different arguments about stone and metal. Alongside them, the live demonstration opens up the process behind the work.

Hand-cut serpentine stone, set into metal. Stone as skin. Not ornament laid over a form, but part of the structure itself.

From the precision of parchin kari (pietra dura) to the tension between stone, metal, fracture and form, the works hold an ongoing conversation between an ancient technique and a contemporary language.

With my mother, Farhana Asad, and the Studio Lél team.

Grateful to the Michelangelo Foundation for bringing us into An Atelier Alive, and to Piaget for their support.

Running now - 1–30 September, Venice.

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07/09/2026

Beneath the Same Sky
Meherunnisa Asad
2026

Malachite, lapis lazuli, jade, onyx, nephrite, serpentine, afghanite, amazonite, marble, copper, and mirrored glass

Produced by Studio Lél, Peshawar, Pakistan

Exhibited at The Overview Effect 2026. Curated by . In partnership with and .

⸻

Beneath the Same Sky is a meditation on coexistence.

A panther moves beneath a tree of life, its body entwined with flora. Birds take flight above, while below, a fish glides through lotus pads. Every species here shares the same sky, the same air, the same home.

The mirrored surface reflects not only the surrounding space but also the viewer, who completes the composition. In doing so, the work asks us to see ourselves inside this web of life, and to consider our interdependence and responsibility toward one another and the planet.

This spirit of interconnectedness also informs Asad’s practice. She works with Pietra Dura, a historic language of stone inlay known in the South Asian subcontinent through Parchin Kari, which she uses as a contemporary artistic medium and approaches as an act of shared authorship, realized through many hands. Produced at Studio Lél- the Peshawar atelier founded by her mother, Farhana Asad, and now under her artistic direction- the piece brings together the knowledge and traditions of Pakistani and displaced Afghan craftspeople in a single surface. Here, a historic language of stone inlay meets a contemporary vocabulary of imagery, material and reflection. At a time when conflict and displacement threaten cultural memory, the studio sustains craft traditions and the stories they carry across generations.

Beneath the Same Sky is the first functional work in War Gardens, Asad’s ongoing series inspired by what grows despite- or even in response to- conflict: the persistence of creation in places marked by violence.

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06/09/2026

It was such a joy to be part of The Overview Effect alongside this wonderfully talented group of artists at Berlin Art Week. Grateful for the conversations, connections and different ways of seeing that came together through the exhibition.

Curated by Anna Carnick. Presented by The Foundry Berlin with Bocci.

03/09/2026

Berlin, here we come!

The Overview Effect in the press with T: The NYTimes Style Magazine and T: The New York Times Style Magazine Germany - an exhibition reflecting on perspective, interconnectedness and hope as a form of action.

Presented by The Foundry Berlin at Wilhelm Hallen - Berlin duringThe Foundry Berlinin cWilhelm Hallen - Berlin.

The OBerlin Art Week– eine Ausstellung über Bocciektivwechsel, Verbundenheit und Hoffnung als Form des Handelns.

Curated by Anna Carnick Anna Carnick.

Carnick

02/09/2026

Introducing Threshold Study I (2026) - where stone becomes a second skin.

Presented in An Atelier Alive at , Venice, 1–30 September 2026, with artistic direction by . Studio Lél’s live atelier is generously supported by .

This side table combines a patinated metal structure with serpentine sourced from the Swat Valley in northern Pakistan. The surface is not carved from a single block; it is assembled from thousands of small, individually cut and hand-laid pieces using the technique of pietra dura, locally known as parchin kari.

Together, these fragments form a continuous stone skin across an asymmetrical, curving passage that gradually narrows through the metal volume. Rethinking the idea of solidity, the work transforms the void into a passage for light.

By Meherunnisa Asad. Crafted at Studio Lél.

31/08/2026

Our founder, Farhana Asad and Artistic Director, Meherunnisa Asad, were invited to bring Studio Lél’s atelier to Homo Faber in Venice- sharing both the tradition of pietra dura (stone marquetry) and the ways we continue to reimagine it.

Our live demonstration at Homo Faber is generously supported by .

A visit from Johann Rupert, co-founder and Chairman of the Michelangelo Foundation, his lovely wife Gaynor Rupert, and daughter Hanneli Rupert , its Vice-Chair, led to a deeply personal conversation about carrying inherited knowledge and artistic traditions forward through innovation- even amid violence and loss.

‘Last year, my father was assassinated on the very land he loved and taught me to love. Continuing to make and pass this knowledge on is our refusal to let violence have the final word.’ - Meherunnisa Asad

Address

Peshawar

Website

http://www.studio-lel.com/

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