Price: $410 + shipping & handling

Nethiki Nalaikki means ‘Yesterday, Tomorrow’ in Tamil, the oldest spoken language in India.

This artists’ book carries a folktale about a man and his two wives, Nethiki and Nalaikki. While trying to satisfy them both, he ends up losing all his hair. Desiring him to look younger, Nalaikki plucks his white hair. While Nethiki plucks his black hair to make him look older.

The folktale is brought alive in this version of the ‘hand as book’. The traditional art of Mehendi is used as inspiration for the design, hence the handwritten text and drawings.

The artists’ books is in two parts - first is the canvas book with drawings and photographs enclosed in a wrap around cover. The second is a pair of gloves. The pages on the canvas book correspond with the text on the gloves, connecting the two.

Wear the gloves and read the story finger by finger and notice… sometimes you become Nethiki and sometimes Nalaikki‍.

Size: 17 X 8 inch (closed)

No. of pages: 18

Material: Canvas, cotton gloves

Edition size: 20

Editions: 1

Production: Digital printing on canvas and cotton gloves

© 2026 by Priya Pereira