An initative between Pramila Choudhary (PhD, Geography and Environmental Studies, Textile Designer and Artist) and Sayali Goyal (Textile Artist, Editor Cocoa & Jasmine)
Pramila Choudhary has arranged a presentation for the Textile and Materiality Research Cluster of Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture, and Technology at Concordia University. Inviting Sayali Goyal from Cocoa & Jasmine the purpose of this talk is to foster discussions about worldwide artisan communities, the operation of a cultural business, and the valuable perspectives gained from the interplay between craft and design collaborations. Cocoa & Jasmine is an independent print publication and cultural agency.
About Pramila Choudhary
Pramila serves as both the founder and creative leader of the Projecthandstitch Blog initiative, which was established in 2017. This initiative began with an open project involving creating 12-month hand-stitched garments, aiming to delve into the concept of slow fashion and foster a global community. Through this journey, they have explored 28 distinct handmade crafts and brought together 32 participants, fostering the exchange of knowledge, promoting slow fashion, and advocating textile practices in everyday life. The project’s progress has been documented on Instagram and within a private Facebook group.
Continuing into the subsequent year, #projecthandstitch has continued to spotlight diverse global and local handmade practices, individuals, and conversations within the community. You can connect with them on Instagram @projecthandstitch
Pramila’s background includes studying textile design at NID (National Institute of Design, India) and HSLU (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Switzerland). Since then, she has collaborated with various craft communities in India, engaged in international craft-based initiatives, and partnered with brands in the US and UK. Additionally, she practices as a textile artist, utilizing pre-consumer waste and natural materials. Her expertise extends to teaching design students at NID and NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology), where she imparts knowledge on sustainability, craft studies, design thinking, surface development, fabric construction, hybrid textile structures, and material explorations.
About Sayali Goyal
Sayali is the Founder and creative director of Cocoa and Jasmine (www.cocoaandjasmine.com) an independent print publication and cultural agency that focuses on global creative communities and facilitates cross cultural connections. The magazine has researched, documented and published stories on various craft communities from India and around the world. Apart from the print magazine, her practice also extends to curating exhibitions, penels, residencies, journalism, ethnographic visual research as well as strategy for some of the leading companies in India and Internationally. She studied surface textiles at the University of arts London and since then has created a series of textile art and exhibited her works in Delhi, Mumbai, London and San Francisco.