In person / Open Studio / Dyeing
A contemporary practitioner of Kalamkari and one of the only working with this tradition in the U.S., Nikita Shah opens her studio for a day-long event inviting the public into her process. Kalamkari is a 23-step hand-drawn and naturally dyed textile tradition from South Asia that Shah has studied and adapted over the past decade, working closely with artisans in India and bringing the practice into her studio in New York.
Throughout the day, she will share works-in-progress, live demonstrations, and the materials and tools that make up this intricate craft. From fermented black ink and myrobalan to alum and madder. Visitors are welcome to drop in any time between 12:00pm and 6:00pm to engage with the work, ask questions, and learn how this traditional form continues to evolve in migratory lands and contemporary context.
This open studio is both a space of transparency and an invitation to slow down, observe, and connect with the tactile and narrative power of handmade cloth. It offers a glimpse into not just finished work, but also the process and thinking that sustains a living craft practice today.
Short presentations on the history of Kalamkari and Shah’s practice will be held at 2:00pm and 4:00pm.
Nikita Shah (b. Mumbai, India) is a Brooklyn-based textile artist, designer and educator working with Kalamkari, a 3,000-year-old textile tradition currently practiced exclusively in Sri Kalahasti, India. She adheres to its most traditional methods, using a bamboo kalam (pen) and natural dyes derived from minerals and plants.
While Kalamkari is often associated with Chintz, Tree of Life motifs, and the rich chay (madder) pigment, Shah’s practice focuses on its lesser-known lineage: narrative storycloths known locally as vrata pani (Telugu for “writing work”).
Her work centers self-expression, embodied memory, and collective storytelling. Drawing from intergenerational knowledge and lived experience, she explores themes such as the somatic impact of abuse, the grief of existing within patriarchal systems, and migration. Through the narrative potential of Kalamkari, she experiments with forms such as self-portraiture, abstraction, and soft sculpture - examining the medium’s reparative possibilities.