A story. A fable. A legend. Across large swathes of Central and South Asia, the word 'dastaan' signifies a layered story, told with imagination, emotion and wonder. A dastaan is never a singular tale; it is a story that is constantly in evolution, with each retelling bringing forth a new detail.

As we near the end of another year, new dastaans spring forth in the worlds of art, architecture and design. At the second and upcoming edition of Design Mumbai, local and global creative voices are set to mingle, with many practices foregrounding sustainability and traditional crafts. In a throwback to ~log(ue) at ADFF: STIR Mumbai 2025, actor Danish Husain moulds time, reminding us how the future is often a reiteration of our pasts.

Whose stories get told, and by whom? The American designer Stephen Burks questions how we're shaping the future of design. He urges an inclusive understanding of design as a language, beyond finite material forms. Local histories and global events collide to shape a dastaan of Japanese history in an exhibition at the National Art Center in Tokyo, co-curated, in an acknowledgement of its cross-regional relevance, with the M+ museum in Hong Kong.

What do dastaans tell us about ourselves? Perhaps the tale itself is never the point. It is in the telling, and also the remembering, that we find the tools to build new worlds.