Recently we hosted our first open event that highlighted the date as both medium and material within the Subcontinent. A curatorial initiative undertaken by GOYA for Young Collectors' Programme at India Art Fair, Khajoornama lent much meaning and context to Bruijn's conscious support for homegrown produce.

Designed as a culinary and cultural tasting experience, Khajoornama materialized as a sensory exhibit and a tactile food table that traced the journey of the date across the Indian subcontinent. Khajoornama takes its name from the Mughal adaptation of Hindi-Arabic, reflecting the layered histories of language, food and exchange. The event used the date as a starting point to explore how a single fruit moves through climates, cultures & centuries. Allowing for the intersection of touch and observation, the table itself was composed of materials, ingredients, flavours and varieties of dates grown in Thar, conceptualised by Shiva Kant Vyas.

Chef Taiyaba Ali, at the helm, adapted this versatile ingredient into a delicious, snack-friendly menu that allowed one to journey through communities and landscapes of the Subcontinent whilst weaving history and craft into every bite. A conversation that allowed you to savour, reflect, and connect from palm to plate, to build an archive of trade history and a new tradition harvest. 

Through its work with farmers, Bruijn is embedded within a conscious, farmer-led movement that centres the grower’s role in nurturing, refining, and elevating the crop. At Khajoornama, we explored the date’s many interpretations, adaptations, and reinventions across communities, positioning the date as both material and medium. Bruijn continuously highlights the need to champion Indian grown dates to aid a circular economy, improving the livelihoods of farmers and reviving lost biodiversity as a result.