What Lies Beneath

We ask four women designers to tease out the alternative narratives in their works. The result? Objects inspired by rituals, artworks that question history, and installations that reveal lesser-known stories.

THE CHANDLO

Nipa Doshi

Chandlo was born of my fascination of the ritual of sringar. On one level, it draws from the utopian 16 steps of dressing up and particularly reflects the big circular bindi that women wear, yet it is very architectural with its lines, planes, and three-dimensionality. Chandlo relates to beauty, because beauty is integral to my design practice.

I think the feminine approach to design is not just decorative— it is not that obvious. For me, narrative is important. Design is not purely about solving a problem or creating a form. It has a close link to human desire and beauty. One can say that beauty is superficial but for me it is also about embodying a ritual. It is an attitude towards material and environment. I’m deeply influenced by India. For example, how the bed was made in my grandfather’s house in the village or how the food was served and the table was laid out. There’s something sublime about these rituals. It is about entering the process of doing something—there’s a method to it and I love that.

Nipa Doshi is co-founder of the Londonbased design studio, Doshi Levien. Her practice is rooted in her plural upbringing in India, and the studio’s philosophy has been one that infuses the industrial with the handmade.

THE PERENNIAL GAZE

Shahzia Sikander

What might otherwise have been a small-scale painting within a book or a private collection is brought into the public realm. The Perennial Gaze takes my interest in Islamic book arts and manuscripts of the Muslim world and makes it a part of a very pertinent dialogue in the current global political environment.