Opening report Workspace India

On Sunday Februari 5 the Dutch Design Workspace opened in Mumbai, India. After the Dutch Design Workspace in Shanghai and Dutch Designs Desks in Guangzhou and Maastricht, Mumbai is the second Dutch Design Workspace. Editor Jeroen Junte shares his experience of the opening. Part 1 of a series from Mumbai:

Sunday 5 February 2012 marked the opening of the Dutch Design Workspace India in Mumbai for Dutch designers, architects and other professionals in the creative industry. These professionals can rent a work station in the Workspace and engage business support services. ‘But the Workspace offers more than just a desk with an Internet connection. It’s a place for encounters and exchanges,’ explains Rita van Hattum, assistant director of the Association of Dutch Designers (BNO), one of the partners of Dutch Design Fashion Architecture (DutchDFA) which initiated the project. ‘This makes the Workspace ideal for designers with serious plans for opening an office in India, but also for a short-term stay as an initial orientation. In either case the Workspace can provide support in the form of matchmaking contacts with potential Indian partners or clients.’

The Workspace seems to be fulfilling a need. Designer Tjeerd Veenhoven is the first tenant. He developed a process to transform palm leaves into a soft leather-like material. He has now set up a production facility in India from where the material originates. ‘Now I need a permanent location. I could rent an office, of course. But how would I find the right contacts? And advice about practical matters is also indispensable, registering with a local Chamber of Commerce, for example.’

In addition to facilitating the work of individual professionals, the Workspace guarantees a permanent presence for the Dutch creative industry as a whole. ‘You have to demonstrate commitment with a permanent presence in order to be taken seriously in India,’ says Workspace director Anuradha Gupta. ‘The Workspace will therefore also serve as a hub for various activities, like lectures, workshops and presentations. This will become the platform for dialogue and collaboration between the Indian and Dutch creative industries.’

The Workspace’s official opening was also the first bilateral collaboration on site, carried out by its Indian director, Anuradha Gupta, and the Dutch Consul General, Marijke van Drunen Littel with Christine de Baan, Programme Director of DutchDFA. The Dutch creative industry’s interest in India was underscored by the presence of such prominent designers as graphic design practice Designpolitie, food designer Marije Vogelzang, architectural practice DUS Architects and landscape architect Erik Rietveld. Sudhir Sharma of design practice INDI Design, as the first Indian designer to move into the Workspace, demonstrates that Indian designers are looking at the Netherlands with interest as well.

In spite of the mutual interest, cultural differences remain significant, says the BNO’s Van Hattum. ‘In India everything goes a little slower. That requires patience and improvisational skills.’ Neither should you underestimate Indian pride, warns Rajesh Kejriwal, the organizer of Design Yatra, an annual Indian conference for communication design. ‘We are an open people. But if a Westerner comes with the idea that he is going to tell us how to do things, he won’t get anywhere. No matter how much money there is to be made.’

The prevailing mood, however, is one of optimism. ‘Cities in India are growing rapidly. That opens up opportunities for Dutch architects,’ says Caroline Bos co-founder of architecture practice UN Studio, which concluded a two-week orientation tour of India with a presentation at the Workspace opening. According to Workspace director Gupta, Dutch product designers can differentiate themselves through their critical attitude and attention to social problems like the environment or poverty. The Workspace director foresees great opportunities in collaborations with craftsmanship and digital design in particular, although that critical and experimental Dutch design will probably take some getting used to for the Indians. ‘But Indians are not interested in designers that make the same things, even if you do it better. It’s important that you bring something that they do not know or cannot do.’

Editor: Jeroen Junte

This report from the opening of the Dutch Design Workspace is part 1 of a series from Mumbai.

• Part 2 covers the Matchmaking by NAI and Tata Housing, 
• Part 3 the Base of the Pyramid-seminar.