Dialogue + Studio: Embroidery Night School with Spandita Malik

Join artist Spandita Malik at AFAM for an embroidery workshop, where participants learn more about the Kantha technique.
About this Event

Join us for Embroidery Night School, a hands-on embroidery presentation and workshop series conceived with the artist and activist Spandita Malik in conjunction with the exhibition . 

Inspired by the knowledge-sharing model of the stitching workshop, the program will offer participants the opportunity to experiment with historic sewing techniques while reflecting on the connections between textile work, community, and social change.

For the third evening of the series, Spandita Malik will share her knowledge of Kantha, a simple, narrative form of Indian embroidery based around the running stitch. 

The Dialogue + Studio Workshop series offers participants opportunities to gain insight into and engage with self-taught art, past and present, at a deep level. Focused discussions about select themes, techniques, and materials featured in current exhibitions are paired with related expert-led hands-on workshops.

This program is organized by Mathilde Walker-Billaud, AFAM Curator of Programs and Engagement.

About the Artist

Spandita Malik (born in 1995) is an Indian visual artist living and working in New York City. Her work addresses the current global socio-political state of affairs, with a focus on women’s rights and gendered violence. Malik specializes in process-based photography, particularly photographic surface embroideries and collaborations with women in India. Her work in expanded documentary and social practice consciously emerges from the idea of decolonizing the eye and the aesthetic surrounding documentary photography in India.

Malik’s work has been exhibited at institutions such as the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, 21c Museum Hotels, Rockefeller Capital Management, Jane Lombard Gallery, and the Sharjah Art Foundation, among others. She has received prestigious awards, grants and residencies, including the V&A Parasol Foundation Prize, The 30: New and Emerging Photographers Award, the Firecracker Photographic Grant, the Baxter St Workspace Residency, and the PES Feminist Incubator Residency. Malik’s work has been featured in the British Journal of Photography, Buzzfeed, Crafts Magazine, Elephant Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, Marie Claire, The Guardian, The Times (UK), and The Washington Post. She received her MFA in Photography from Parsons School of Design in 2019.

Consult the artist’s webpage here

Images 

Banner: Maria Hammond, Needlework Picture, North Kingstown, Rhode Island, c. 1810. Silk and watercolor on silk, 15 x 19 in. North Kingstown Free Library, Rhode Island  

Spandita Malik, Kirna Devi III, 2024. Photographic transfer print on khaddar fabric, phulkari silk thread embroidery, 27 x 21 in. Courtesy of the artist.  

Registration

This program will take place at the American Folk Art Museum, located at 2 Lincoln Square, New York City. 

This program is open to artists and creatives at all levels of training and experience. It is limited to 18 individuals. 

Advance registration is required. 

Tickets are $15 / $12 members, students, artists, seniors.

All materials will be provided.

For questions or to request accessibility accommodations, please email [email protected].