ZOOM meeting: Zoom ID will be posted on WhatsApp and emailed one day prior to the meeting.

Guests Welcome

FOCUS ON NAGALAND: the land of beautiful and truly unique textiles

Radhi Parekh is Founder Director of ARTISANS’, a social enterprise that aims to revitalize and sustain India’s unique craft and cultural traditions. She is a graduate of the National Institute of Design (NID) India and returned to India in 2009 after a career in design spanning two decades and three continents.

Today Radhi will speak to us about a venture close to her heart… ARTISANS’ Sustainable Development Foundation's project, Leshemi Origins. It is an endeavor to develop a value-based economy that preserves local identity and self-sustainability; and empowers women’s livelihoods and local enterprise through co-design.

At one of the highest places in the hills of Nagaland, stinging nettle is foraged from the wild, and tamed, soft enough to be worn. Indigenous women of the Chakhesang tribe from Leshemi, a remote Naga village in Northeast India, weave nettle or ‘thebvo’ into shawls on back-strap looms in a process that remains unchanged to this day. The fibre-to-fabric journey is zero-carbon-footprint. Ladies, do join us for what promises to be a fascinating morning and hear more about the process.

Anita Gupta       Laila Karan