623. DECOLONIZE 2. Design in unlikely places (India). A talk with Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan

Suchitra Balasubrahmanyan studied Visual Communication at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India and is visiting professor at Nirma University, Ahmedabad. Her design practice focussed on social issues with NGOs, grassroots organisations and social movements in western India. Her research interests centre on nineteenth and twentieth-century craft and design in India against the backdrop of decolonization and nationalism.

It is to note that we have recorded this interview many weeks before the tension between India and Pakistan in May 2025. 

Suchitra recommends us:

On Dalit design

On designers from indigenous communities in India⁠

Sarita Sundar's work on a history of chairs in India.

Her article on moving away from Bauhaus and Ulm

Her article on Development and Design

This episode is part of the lists: India y diseño, Decolonizar el diseño, Seguridad y diseño, D&D in English y Territorio y diseño. The titles of the lists are in Spanish, but each list contains episodes in English. The "D&D in English" list includes all the episodes published in English. So far, we have 35 episodes available. Over time, we’ve been building a solid collection, and if this is your first time listening to us, now you know there’s plenty more to explore!

This is the 2nd episode of the series Decolonizing Design Through Dialogue. 

This series is possible thanks to the Design History Society, which awarded me the Decolonising Design History Grant. They also advised me on whom to interview outside of Latin America, so that this series would have a more international perspective. This series features interviewees and projects from India, Argentina, Spain, Ghana, the USA, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Australia, Ecuador, and Paraguay. It is a trilingual series, with episodes in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. I interview designers, artists, and researchers.