2025 Single Day Events
Upcoming Events
Event Type
The ritual of Kalamkari: Open Studio with Nikita
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.
Color in Reaction: Exploring Metal and Natural Dye
In person / Workshop / Dyeing
This hands-on natural dye workshop invites participants to explore how different metals interact with plant-based dyes to create shifts in color, texture, and meaning. Using materials such as madder, sappan wood, cape jasmine, and other botanical dyes, we will experiment with a range of natural fibers including wool, silk, cotton, and linen.
Participants will be able to choose from a variety of materials to work with during each session. Options may include cotton, wool, or silk yarns, wool roving, cotton shirts and bags. The workshop will take place across multiple sessions, with different materials offered each time to encourage continued experimentation and new discoveries.
This workshop is inspired by the artist’s research into Newtown Creek, a local waterway heavily affected by industrial waste, including long-term metal contamination. Being part of the local community has led her to wonder what kinds of pollutants exist in the environment around us, and how creative practices like dyeing can help us see and engage with these issues in new ways. Watching how metals alter the behavior of natural dyes becomes a way of making environmental pollution visible through fiber and color.
No previous experience is required. All materials are provided. This is an open invitation to anyone interested in color, material, and the stories they carry. Whether you are curious about natural dyeing, drawn to tactile experimentation, or interested in the environmental histories of New York's waterways, you are warmly welcome. Artists, makers, researchers, and neighbors are all invited to join.
Register Here - TBA
Jing Pei is a textile artist and researcher based in New York. Her work explores the relationship between materials, the environment, and memories from her upbringing. With a background in environmental engineering, she brings a scientific perspective to her practice, incorporating environmental data and site-specific research to investigate pollution, restoration, and ecological change. Her process is grounded in handcraft and material experimentation, using fiber to make visible what is often unseen in environmental systems. Jing holds an MFA in Textiles and an AAS in Fashion Design from Parsons School of Design, and a bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering from Tianjin University. She shares her work through exhibitions, workshops, and collaborative projects that center sustainability, ecological awareness, and material curiosity.