The Last last two weeks have been a dream for those of us who love art, design and culture. First the India Art Fair, followed by the India Design ID and its satellite events and then the I Haat Delhi festival over the weekend. As you can imagine, it was quite an eventful week!
A lot of crazy deadlines meant that I couldn't attend any of the satellite events I had planned to during Design ID week. I did however manage to squeeze out a day to attend the Exhibition and Symposium on Friday. Big shout out to Vani Ganesh of Perfect Relations, who arranged a pass for me for the symposium. BV Doshi was to attend and speak on the day I went, but sadly he cancelled last minute :(
ID Symposium
The main Exhibition Pavilion included a lot of established names like Valaya Home, Casa Pop by Raseel Gujral, Sarita Handa, Apartment 9 and The Charcoal Project. This exhibition area focused mostly on decor and home styling, while the Design Pavilion focused on Indian Designers & Design and included names like Neeru Kumar, Godrej Design Lab, ThePurpleTurtles and EDIDA 2014 winners.
Some of the stalls and booths were beautifully set up and I have included images of these. Others, I felt tried to crowd too much in and it was impossible to navigate through. One big issue I had was that a few design booths and stalls didn't allow visitors to take photographs. Come on guys, we are giving you free promotion! Besides that, if having your designs copied is an issue, take a leaf out of Coco Chanel's philosophy. For her, copying was the greatest compliment you could give her besides the free publicity. Besides, she had the confidence in her product to know that even if it was copied, it would never be the same as the real thing. And if having your products photographed is still such an issue, please put up a sign stating very clearly that photography of your stall is not permitted! I saw a lot of visitors and students trying to take pictures only to be scolded. I believe this platform is one based on the idea of promoting design and sharing ideas and this attitude is the very antithesis of that idea.
This was the set up by Krea and I absolutely love their contemporary furniture that has a mid-century modern feel. They have some beautifully designed chairs and benches- a couple of pieces that have gone on my 'someday maybe' list :) Their flagship store is in Sultanpur, on MG Road and I am planning a visit soon.
I totally fell for this black wall of distressed antique frames. Cool how they work so well together in spite being different shapes, sizes and shades. Something to ponder on maybe?
Cute and eclectic as always, Nur's display was fun, playful and very whimsical, which pretty much sums up their range of products. I liked their colorful rugs and doormats and their quirky cushion covers.
Saw these cute and colorful seats, part of the Retyrement Plan range of occasional furniture by Anu Tandon Viera for Godrej Design Lab. They are made from discarded tyres and colorful ropes. That pouffe/table is so going on my wishlist :)
The AKFD design booth was another set up that I loved. The minimal grey backdrop was the perfect foil for their contemporary designs that offer a fresh take on traditional Indian crafts. My favorites were their Lamp designs.
The Neeru Kumar design booth has some truly beautiful textiles for the home ranging from cushion covers and rugs to framed wall hangings. It was delightful speaking with Neeru, a pioneer who has made a huge impact on the Indian Textile scene.
Look who I bumped into! My senior from IED, Hardik Gandhi, who is the founder of DesignGandhi, India. He and his colleague, Ritika Nanda of Mother Gone Mad Design Studio displayed their works in furniture and custom lighting in this booth.
'When ideas crystallize- ThePurpleTurtles
The Trends Pavilion included installations of designers interpretations of color and color trends forecasting. There were a few interesting installations, but honestly, and at the risk of sounding very stupid, I found this pavilion the least visitor friendly. This is why...
When I visited, all I saw were various installations where it was obvious a certain color or set of colors were being used. However, I think to properly explain this to visitors, there needs to be a few people at each installation who are knowledgeable about color and can explain these trends to the visitors.
Secondly I think it would be nice to also have a few color themed collage-like displays (moodboards?), kind of like the ones you see in decor magazines. I think this is also a really great method of conveying color and colors that are trending.
This is just my own little opinion, and I'm the first to admit I'm no expert here.
Finally, the outdoors spaces also had various installations by designers like Martand khosla, Mukul Goyal and Alex Davis. Now here is where I was a little disappointed. I really felt like the outdoor spaces should have been utilised more. What I would love to see more of are bigger and bolder installations that have a sense of scale. Things like an installation that could also be a kids play area- where art and design meet the built environment. Otherwise it's just art for arts sake.
This installation was along the lines of what I was hoping for. Visitors could go in and experience it as well as its relation to the surroundings. But it was very small in terms of scale.
This on the other hand was more of an arty sculpture, and while I liked it, and it was certainly interesting, I think it may have been more relevant in an art fair.
There were a number of F&B stalls as well, from Guppy by ai to Dunkin Donuts, Elma's brasserie and Coast Cafe, to name just a few. I really hope that next year (keeping in mind the lovely weather we have in February) more of the F&B stalls are outside. I love the idea of an outdoor food courtyard, a place where maybe kids can run around and people can chat. It would also give the food stalls more space for seating, something that became a bit of an issue during peak lunch hours at the Design ID.
An incredibly refreshing raspberry soda from SodaBottleOpenerWala...
all it needed was some vodka :)
Loved these chili tuna rolls from Guppy by ai, the tuna was fresh, the rolls were crispy on the outside and bursting with flavour. I wasn't too impressed with their chicken curry with sticky rice though.
An interesting installation in the F&B area of the Exhibition pavilion
This was the third installation of India Design ID but the first time I attended. I spent most of the day there, dividing my time between the Symposium and the Exhibition spaces, with a break for a delicious lunch which I enjoyed at the Guppy by Ai & SodaBottleOpenerWala stall. It was a great day that was enlightening and informative. The India Design ID is a great way for designers and design enthusiasts to source products for the home and it is also an amazing way to interact with design icons and experts in the field. The events were very well organised and the exhibition areas well laid out. I'm looking forward to next years event.
[All images by Shalini Pereira. Please do not use without prior written permission]
