Textile designer Mayank Mansingh Kaul, art curator Durva Gandhi and Verve hosted a Sunday brunch for Divia Patel, the South Asia curator at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum who was passing through Mumbai. Guests who trooped into Durva’s elegant Colaba sea-facing apartment sipped on chilled glasses of Zampa chenin blanc and gorged on the delectable vegetarian fare and sinful blueberry cheesecake. The conversation naturally veered towards all thing design. Divia was intrigued to learn about the collective and mass design culture in India and how innovative design solutions emerge from daily practice. As Pinakin Patel noted, a bhel puri vendor travels with his shop and all his requirements fit in that little stand he carries. Other talking points included the need for the Indian design community to meet and connect more often and the tendency of the press to focus largely on fashion design while ignoring developments in other design fields like furniture, graphic design, product design, space and museum design.

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