Impart & Nalli Silks
Annual research fellowship supporting independent projects on South Asian textile histories, practices, and traditions — open to applicants worldwide.
The Impart & Nalli Fellowships is a partnership between Nalli Silks — a heritage textile brand founded in 1928 — and Impart, an online platform dedicated to making South Asia's art histories accessible to everyone. Now in its third cycle, the programme awards two research fellowships per year, each carrying a grant of INR 5.5 lakhs to support one year of independent research and project development.
Applications for the 2027–28 cycle open on 3 July 2026 and close on 31 August 2026. Fellows will be announced in December 2026, with the fellowship period running from January to December 2027.
Who can apply?
The fellowship is open to anyone aged 18 or older, based anywhere in the world, whose proposed project engages with textile practices across South Asia. Early- and mid-career researchers, designers, archivists, journalists, writers, educators, practitioners, collectives, and small organisations are all encouraged to apply. Collaborative applications are welcome.
Areas of focus include:
Supported project formats include:
Journalistic inquiry, documentary film, archive activation, practice-based research, archive generation, digitisation and documentation, exhibitions, and book projects.
What's expected at the end?
Each fellow must submit a comprehensive project report, co-develop a research dossier with Impart (to be published on their website), and produce a set of final project outputs — which may include audio-visual work, visual essays, written pieces, or curatorial projects.
Selection process:
Applications are reviewed after the August deadline. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an online interview before final selections are made. The jury for the 2027–28 cycle includes Noorjehan Bilgrami, Dr Toolika Gupta, Paola Manfredi, and Lavanya Nalli.
