Maybe it’s time to look back!!!

Some countries are known for a single craft. India is home to countless ways of thinking.

As designers, we’re taught to look outward. We study Swiss typography, Japanese minimalism, Italian fashion, and Scandinavian furniture. We admire them because they’re exceptional, and rightly so.

But somewhere along the way, we forgot to look back.

Every few hundred kilometres in India, the textiles change, the architecture changes, the crafts change, the music changes, and so does the way people solve problems. Yet many of us were never taught to see these traditions as design. We learnt about them as heritage, not as sources of ideas.

The more I explore Indian crafts, the more I realise I’m not studying the past. I’m discovering design intelligence that still feels relevant today.

Maybe looking back isn’t about nostalgia.

Maybe it’s about remembering that some of our greatest lessons have been here all along.