Villa Swagatam - Indo-French cultural residency program

Residency brief

Since 30 years, Vastrakala has been designing and manufacturing high-quality hand embroidery. As descendants of the master craftsmen serving the Nawabs of the Deccan over several centuries, these embroiderer craftsmen - and women - are the inheritors of a strong heritage seeped in traditional and millennial old techniques that they continue to pass down from one generation to the next. With the foundation of Lesage Intérieurs, the company’s activity was dedicated to embroideries for interiors.

Transmission and excellence have always been at the heart of Vastrakala’s mission, whether it is in enabling new generations of embroiderers to perpetuate their heritage in and around the villages where they live, or in the exchanges of embroidery know-hows between France and India, two countries with a centuries-old embroidery tradition. Jean-Francois Lesage, the artistic director of Lesage Intérieurs will be the mentor of the residency, hosting the artist in his own studio during his/her stay. The resident will benefit from this unique accompaniment while learning from the ancestral techniques of Vastrakala’s craftsmen.

Our Space

Vastrakala Embroidery Atelier is located on the outskirts of Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu, close to Sriperumbudur, the ancestral home of Vastrakala’s craftsmen.

This new atelier was opened in March 2021 and designed as a modern manufacture but in a way reminiscent of 19th-century French utilitarian architecture and industrial spaces. There, the residents will be living with the community of embroiderers and immerse themselves completely in the daily work at the studio.

Naomi Lulendo

Artist

At the Vastrakala embroidery workshop, I hope to nurture my deep-rooted interest in textiles and related crafts by translating my recent research on the history of Indian chintz into artistic creations that blend traditional craftsmanship, fine arts, and post-digital art. The residency, located near Chennai in the region where my Indian roots lie, will also allow me to learn more about the origins of madras, a fabric emblematic of my Guadeloupean heritage, in order to enrich last project (S)KIN-TIGHT.

Naomi Lulendo is a French interdisciplinary artist. Her work examines how certain bodies, textiles, objects, and architectural forms are perceived in various cultural and geographical contexts, highlighting their potential to forge new connections between the past and the present. Her research focuses on representations of femininity and foreign bodies in vernacular, traditional, and esoteric practices within the arts, crafts, and sciences. A graduate of the Beaux-Arts de Paris (2018) and after a post diploma in Art and Research at the Beaux-Arts de Lyon (2025), she is currently working on (S)KIN TIGHT, a textile based project aiming to map out the journeys of fabrics originating in India, and to trace a family genealogy through their connections across four locations: India, Europe, West Africa, and the Caribbean.

Residency conditions

The resident should produce an artwork by the end of his/her residency at Vastrakala Embroidery Atelier.
The resident should be willing to give up to 20% of his/her residency time to participate in various public engagement events such as open studios, talks, performances, workshops, etc. organized by Vastrakala or the French Institute in India.
The resident will be provided with an adapted working space and all the required embroidery related material.
The resident will be provided with on-site accommodation, which includes an air-conditioned bedroom with attached bath and toilet, as well as a common living & dining room and a kitchenette.
The resident will be provided with three meals a day, which will mainly consist of simple Indian food.
In addition, the resident will receive a fixed stipend of INR. 30 000 per month to cover his/her living expenses.
The resident will receive a residency grant of INR. 50 000 per month.
The resident’s travel costs to and from his/her home address will be covered by the French Institute in India.

Eligibility criteria

The resident has to be autonomous in English.

Vastrakala Craft Residency

Production residency

Residency brief

Our Space

Naomi Lulendo

Residency conditions

Eligibility criteria

Past Laureates