Meet Nipa Doshi, the 2025 MECCA X NGV Women in Design Commission Recipient

Born in Mumbai, Doshi grew up in Delhi, fascinated with the beauty of local customs, seasonality and craft. Her upbringing bred her distinctive creative approach, whereby she interprets design as gestures, rather than objects. 

Doshi moved to London to study at the Royal College of Art in the 1990s, where she met her life and creative partner Jonathan Levien. The pair founded the Doshi Levien design studio in 2000, which has since collaborated with some of the world’s most influential furniture companies, museums and cultural institutions

Doshi’s furniture, lighting and object-based collections meld cultural narratives and creative influences through materials and craftsmanship. 

Her MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission will be unveiled in September 2025 at the NGV in Melbourne and be on display to the public for free as part of the Gallery’s permanent collection. The new work, titled A Room of My Own, is a one-of-a-kind handcrafted, multidimensional cabinet inspired by portable Indian shrines known as Kavad. Imbued with personal history and memory, Doshi’s cabinet honours the women who shaped her life and career.

Doshi is the fourth of five annual MECCA x NGV Women in Design Commission recipients, following Christien Meindertsma (2024), Bethan Laura Wood (2023) and Tatiana Bilbao (2022). The Commission, made possible by MECCA’s social change initiative M-POWER, is the first and only of its kind in Australia and aims to rebalance gender representation in the arts.