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Event

2026
5.30pm - 8.30pm

Event

Kantha Kotha: stitch ‘n’ talk workshop with special guest Ekta Kaul

  • Location

    Central Saint Martins, Room A002, 1 Granary Square, London N1C 4AA

  • Date
  • Time
To celebrate South Asian Heritage Month, join us at the 'Kantha Kotha' event on 27 July as part of the 'Unity in Diversity' theme.

Group for the Equality of Minority Staff (GEMS) are delighted to welcome special guest Ekta Kaul, an award-winning artist known for her stitched maps and abstract paintings.

Ekta will reveal how art enables her to express herself and tell stories of place, history and belonging; sharing her creative practice of narrative maps that explore identity and belonging through stitch. A map, she shows us, can reveal countless stories and become a portal to places of personal and collective history.

This insightful conversation will also explore how her practice was shaped by a chance discovery: kantha saris in her mother's wardrobe. Her mother, a scientist with a passion for collecting saris, would return from conferences in West Bengal with suitcases full of exquisite kantha, baluchari and jamdani textiles. It was the striking monochrome palette of the kantha saris that first captured Ekta's eye, an influence that continues to shape her work today.

Ekta Kaul Bio:

Ekta Kaul is an award-winning, India born British artist with Indian roots. She is an experienced educator and teaches masterclasses in the UK, Canada and Japan. Ekta has exhibited her work at Somerset House, TOAST, The New Craftsmen, Contemporary Applied Arts, Museum of Art and Design (NYC) and The Conran Shop (Tokyo) among others. She trained at India’s premier design school, the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and later at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. www.ektakaul.com


Structure:

  • 5:30PM (45mins) - Short introduction to kantha stitch techniques and making.
  • 6:15PM (15mins) - break and snacks by smoke & lime
  • 18:30 (45mins) - Talk by Ekta Kaul (online) and their practice plus Q&A (15mins)
  • 7:30PM (60 mins) - Further stitching and making along with playlist
  • 8:30PM - Conclude

Materials will be provided, although you are welcome to bring any visuals that represent your ideas.

No previous experience of working with textiles is necessary! If you have any specific access requirements you'd like us to consider, please email us in advance of the session.


This session is open to all UAL staff and students and external members.


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