Celebrated globally for her distinctive aesthetic that elegantly engages with her Indian heritage, Mumbai-born, London-based designer Nipa Doshi has unveiled her never-before-seen cabinet and typeface exclusively at NGV International in Melbourne, Australia. Doshi is the recipient of the 2025 MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission, a major series inviting globally renowned designers to create groundbreaking new work for the NGV Collection.
Taking the form of a handcrafted, multidimensional cabinet that serves as both a shrine and a dressing table, A Room of My Own imbues personal history and memory into functional design. Drawing inspiration from portable Indian shrines known as kaavad, the cabinet is a space for personal ritual and care, while paying homage to the multigenerational women who have profoundly shaped Doshi’s life and career.
Abstract portraits within the cabinet reflect an amalgamation of women whose extraordinary qualities have influenced Doshi. Portraits feature figures from an avant-garde 1970s Indian actress; an elderly matriarch from Doshi’s neighbourhood growing up; and a compassionate nurse who cared for the designer when she was at her most vulnerable. The portraits within the cabinet are revealed when the doors are opened, intimately inviting the viewer into Doshi’s inner world shaped by her life experiences.
Alongside A Room of My Own cabinet, Doshi also debuts a never-before-seen typeface, which translates her design sensibility into letters, numbers and symbols that function as both communication and composition. Hand-painted at large scale, inside the exhibition space, the typeface is redolent of two-dimensional architectural plans and diagrams, extending Doshi’s spatial thinking into graphic form. Evoking the designer’s memory and imagination, an accompanying moving-image work interweaves animated sequences of Doshi’s debut typeface and footage of her handcrafted cabinet
One half of the acclaimed Doshi Levien studio, which she established with her husband Jonathan Levien in 2000, Doshi Levien was the recipient of the prestigious Designer of the year at the 2015 Elle Deco International Design Awards. In 2024 she received an MBE from King Charles for her contribution to design. Her work has been exhibited in premier institutions across the globe, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Art Institute of Chicago and MoMA in New York.
Doshi is the fourth recipient of the annual, five-year commission series, made possible by a significant contribution from MECCA and supported through its social change initiative, M-POWER. The Women in Design partnership aligns with M-POWER’s mission to drive meaningful progress towards gender equality, by championing opportunities for women and girls in the arts and design, and to inspire the next generation of female creatives. The first and only series of its kind in Australia, the commission creates a platform to present topical, world-premiere works of international significance to highlight the contributions and practices of women in design.
Of the Commission, Nipa Doshi MBE, said: ‘I am truly honoured to be the recipient of this very prestigious and generous award and see it as an opportunity to create exceptional new work, bringing together all the different aspects of my design practice. The creative freedom offered by the commission allows me to make work with a strong narrative, resulting in a collectible piece that embodies my values as a woman in design.’
Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV, said: ‘Nipa Doshi is a leading figure of global design – and it’s a true privilege to be collaborating with her on this new and ambitious work especially for the NGV Collection. We are incredibly grateful to MECCA for their support of this design series which provides a vital platform to profile the work of women in design.’
Jo Horgan AM, Founder & Co-CEO MECCA said: ‘We are thrilled to bring the work of Nipa Doshi to Australia and the NGV, so that Australians can see and experience her incredible work. She is one of the global leaders in design for a reason: she challenges established norms and ensures her cultural identity is infused into everything she does. More than that, her products, design and detail keep us all focused on the value of women’s voices, experiences, and craftsmanship. It’s what we do at MECCA every day – celebrating beauty in all its forms, and recognising the value of beauty in shaping the stories and histories of women.’
The MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission is MECCA’s single largest commitment to an Australian cultural institution. Through this significant contribution MECCA’s support will strengthen the representation of works by women in the NGV’s Collection of Contemporary Design and Architecture and advance the NGV’s ongoing efforts towards redressing historical gender imbalance in the Collection.
MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission 2025: Nipa Doshi is on display until 1 April 2026 at NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Free entry. For more information visit the NGV website.
ABOUT NIPA DOSHI
Born in Mumbai, designer Nipa Doshi grew up in Delhi, fascinated with the beauty of local customs, seasonality and craft. She credits much of her distinctive creative approach to those early years, a time that has come to shape her understanding of design as gestures, rather than objects.
After meeting Jonathan Levien at the Royal College of Art, London in the 1990s, Doshi Levien design studio was established in 2000. The studio has successfully combined cultural influences and creative attitudes into collaborations with some of Europe’s most illustrious furniture companies, from Moroso to B&B Italia, Cappellini, Hay, Kettal, Nanimarquina, B&B Italia, Arper, as well as international museums and cultural institutions (notably Sevres – Cité de la Céramique and The Grand Hornu), and Paris-based gallery Galerie Kreo.
ABOUT LONGSTANDING PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MECCA AND THE NGV
Since 2016, the NGV has partnered with MECCA on several ongoing initiatives designed to empower and engage female artists and designers, including Kaylene Whiskey, Tatiana Bilbao, Bethan Laura Wood, Nadia Hernández, Naomi Hobson, Louise Zhang, Tammy Kanat, Claudia Moodoonuthi, Atong Atem, Rebecca Baumann and Tanya Schultz.
Each year, MECCA and the NGV collaborate with a female artist or designer to create the brand’s annual limited-edition holiday packaging and campaign. As part of the collaboration, MECCA supports the NGV to acquire work by the selected artist for the NGV Collection, helping to enrich its holdings of contemporary art and design. The acquired work is also displayed at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia each year.
The NGV has also worked with MECCA on their M-POWER grant program which offers emerging female artists and designers a 12-month tailored mentoring program, professional development and networking opportunities, as well as ongoing learning opportunities with industry experts.