South Asian textiles form a crucial part of local as well as global histories. The MAP Academy and Nalli Fellowships will support South Asia-based projects that generate new interest in the region’s textile practices among diverse audiences. The Fellowships combine Nalli Silks’ focus area of textile production and design, with the MAP Academy’s vision of fostering incisive research in the study of art histories from South Asia.
This Fellowship programme is a collaboration between Nalli Silks, the heritage textile brand, and the MAP Academy, a platform encouraging greater and more equitable engagement with South Asia’s art and cultural histories.
The Fellowship supports projects examining textiles from South Asia — covering Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet.
Two fellows will be chosen for the Second Cycle and will be expected to complete their research project between February 2026–January 2027. Two more fellows will be chosen for the Third Cycle, with the project’s timeline extending from April 2026–March 2027.
The Fellowship supports a range of formats for research outcomes, including but not limited to:
- Journalistic inquiry
- Documentary film
- Archive activation
- Practice-based research
- Archive generation
- Digitisation and documentation initiatives
The Fellowship is open to early- and mid-career professionals. The organisers invite applications from researchers as well as designers, archivists, journalists, writers, educators, practitioners, and also collectives and non-profit organisations.
The grant is open to applicants residing in anywhere in the world and aged 18 years or older. Their projects must be focussed on South Asian textiles.
A total of four Fellowships will be awarded, each carrying a one-time grant of INR 5,50,000 towards project execution.
