Sep 25 2026 to Sep 25 2026 5 p.m.

Where

Museum of Art & Photography (MAP)

Kasturba Road, Bengaluru 560001

Event Description

Join us for a talk with historian and curator Libby Sellers exploring how twentieth-century design became iconic not simply through the objects themselves, but through the visual ecosystems that surrounded them: photography, magazines, catalogues, advertising, exhibitions, museums and collecting. 

Beginning with John Berger’s Ways of Seeing and the idea that every image embodies a particular way of seeing, the talk considers how images have shaped our understanding of what design looks like, what it means, and which objects and designers become part of the cultural canon.

From post-war Italian design through Californian architecture, it asks how photography transforms both the built environment and our understanding of it. The talk then brings this framework into a South Asian context through the architect Minnette de Silva and the journal MARG, exploring the role of publishing in making a regional modernism visible and intelligible, while opening questions around gender, authorship and the construction of the design canon. Drawing on research into twentieth-century furniture, women designers and collectible design, the talk asks who gets photographed, published, collected and remembered, and who remains outside the frame. 

Ultimately, the talk asks: when we think we recognise an iconic object, are we recognising the object itself, or the history of images that has taught us how to see it?

Libby Sellers
Libby Sellers is an independent design historian, curator and cultural commentator. Formerly senior curator of London’s Design Museum and founder of Gallery Libby Sellers, she now collaborates with international museums, brands and cultural organisations while writing on design and visual culture. Libby has authored numerous books, including Women Design (Frances Lincoln, 2018).