Nita Barua doesn’t like a fuss—not about herself; not about her art. But debuting on the art scene at the age of 90 warrants a small amount of it. She sits in a wheelchair wearing a sharply ironed kaftan, coiffed silver hair and pearls in place. “I was there for her coronation,” she says, “I wonder if I will be able to see his on TV.” She means, of course, the coronations of Elizabeth II and soon, Charles III.

It’s the one thing she wishes she could see as her eye-sight disintegrates.  “I can see a bit of colour,” she says without self-pity. Her hands make long sweeping actions as if painting walls when she adds, “Sometimes I feel like getting oil or poster paints, but I can’t sit on the [potter’s] wheel, and you need the whole setup… the kiln and so on… Besides, everything is done on the computer now. It must be fun for some people, but not to me…”