Design Wallah at the Southbank Centre

Design Wallah at the Southbank Centre, opened on Thursday in London. A pop up shop of contemporary South Asian design, it’s part of the Southbank Centre’s Alchemy Festival celebrating art and culture from the region. We were excited to be showcasing our work, and to be in town to make it to the opening! Open until May 26th, we are one of 26 designers selected by Kathy of Shake the Dust to take part. Here’s a selection of what you can see.

Safomasi Pushkar and Alleppey Collections

Our display had a selection of the Pushkar and Alleppey collections. We love the rickshaw inspired stand Shake the Dust made to showcase our products.

Josie Shenoy

Illustrator Josie Shenoy‘s lamps and an armchair are covered in decorative prints inspired by her Anglo-Indian heritage and Indian wildlife, from peacocks to elephants and kingfishers.

Floor_Story

We’d seen Kangan Arora‘s collaboration with Floor_Story online, so it was great to see it for real! Hand knotted Tibetan weave rugs. Made in, and inspired by India.

Kangan Arora

Kangan also had her photographs of highly decorated Indian trucks on display.

Interactive Installation

‘High Above Udaipur,’ an interactive installation that uses sensors to allow visitors to fly a virtual kite.

Ekta Kaul

Ekta Kaul‘s embroidered map of the UK.

Stitch by Stitch

Stitch by Stitch‘s intricate, hand stitched quilts.

Also on show are Artist Meera Sethi‘s prints, accessories by Delhi-based label Jolie, and Natasha Kumar’s screen prints. One of the great things about the show has been meeting the other designers whose work we’d been following online for a while, and exchanging stories and notes.

It’s also been lovely to see the show getting some press. So far we’ve spotted a mention in Time Out London, plus posts on Living etc.’s blog, Heart on the Home magazine, Home Arty Home and Design Week.

Design Wallah is just one part of Alchemy, the Southbank Centre’s Festival of South Asian Culture. A few of our friends from Delhi have been in London for it, check out Hanif Kureishi’s Handpainted Type project here. And Kriti Monga of Turmeric Design’s Typervention here.

For a full listing of Alchemy events, see the Southbank Centre’s website.

Design Wallah
May 15th – 26th, 12 noon – 10.30pm
Festival Village, underneath Queen Elizabeth Hall
Southbank, London