Nipa Doshi

“The beauty of everyday rituals is very important to me, and that’s something I think is very rooted in my upbringing.”

“What was really important was to express all my values in design,” she says. “I wanted this piece to be an homage to all the influential women in my life.”

For Doshi, the invitation to create the work was a rare and valuable opportunity. “What was really important was to express all my values in design,” she says. “I wanted this piece to be an homage to all the influential women in my life.” A Room of My Own is a deeply layered and personal project – a colourful, multifaceted cabinet inspired by the kavad, a portable storytelling shrine from Rajasthan. The piece honours sacred and everyday rituals, functioning as both a dressing table and a shrine. “I wanted to create a space for wellbeing and self-reflection – a place to look after your body and nourish your mind. There’s a reference to Virginia Woolf in the title, with the idea that if women have a space of their own, they can flourish. But at the same time, I did not want A Room of My Own to be only inhabited by me.”

This notion – that a private space can also be communal – draws on Doshi’s earliest memories of gatherings between her mother and her friends. “They would get together in the afternoon, all the ladies in their saris, and there would be a real sense of community … I really liked the idea that A Room of My Own is not a space just for me, it’s a social space.” The cabinet reflects that beautifully, as its octagonal form concertinas to reveal a dressing table on one side and a suite of five original drawings representing women who have shaped Doshi’s life on the other. These pieces aren’t realist portraits but amalgamations of qualities in women she loves and admires. There’s Zeenat, based on the bold, sensual 1970s Bollywood actress Zeenat Aman; Maya, drawn from a beloved aunt and entrepreneur; Nina, a friend who radiates self-expression and empathy; and the Loud Ladies, her mother’s gregarious friends and relatives. In the centre is a self-portrait. “There is a sense of fun and celebration in the drawings,” says Doshi. “I think they’re very joyful.”

Made by Atelier Helbecque, a master cabinet-maker in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France, the piece is constructed with exquisite attention to material: timber, lacquer, metal and coloured glass, with touches of gold leaf and bespoke brass fittings. “I think there is a very strong architectural element to the cabinet and the materiality. There’s a real sense of movement when you open it. It’s like you’re entering your own space.”

Exhibited alongside the cabinet is a digital font that Doshi designed especially for the work, which will also be acquired by the NGV. Creating a typeface for the first time is another example of her willingness to experiment with new forms. “I’m not a graphic designer,” she says, laughing, “but I think that if you apply the logic of design then it’s about use, about beauty, a sense of discovery in lines, proportion and precision. It has to work as a system.”

“There’s a sense of what the world can be when cultures come together. That plurality and diversity of references, materials and ways of doing things is very important to me.”

The project also includes a pair of large wall panels titled A Memory of Home Real and Imagined, which draws upon Doshi’s memories of India’s rich and vibrant material culture. “When people think of India, they think of a very ancient culture, but it’s also a culture that really embraced modernity,” she says. The installation represents Indian modernist architecture, as well as the barrel-vaulted ceiling of Doshi’s London apartment in the Barbican, tying these different worlds together. “There’s a sense of what the world can be when cultures come together. That plurality and diversity of references, materials and ways of doing things is very important to me.”

While A Room of My Own reflects the women Doshi looks up to, she is also a powerful role model to many. “I hope that every woman who is successful in any field is a role model. The women who I’ve chosen to be in my cabinet are extraordinary ordinary women. And I think that’s really important to remember … that role models are all around us.” Her advice to the next generation of emerging designers is clear and practical: “There is no substitute for skill and talent, so hone your skill and your talent, then develop your voice. Know what you want to say.” She encourages young designers to stay curious and open, adding, “make connections between different disciplines – art, theatre, music. It’s all related.”