The Karun Thakar Fund is presented by Karun Thakar in collaboration with the V&A. The Fund offers scholarships and grants of up to £10,000 to students, early career researchers and emerging practitioners working anywhere in the world on any aspect of Asian or African textiles and dress.
Context
The V&A holds one of the largest museum collections of Asian textiles and dress in the world, and the extensive private collections of Karun Thakar span the textiles and dress of both Asia and Africa. Using both collections as points of departure, the fund promotes materials-based, object-led learning and encourages new, meaningful, and innovative approaches to Asian and African textile and dress studies.
Aim
The Karun Thakar Fund aims to enrich the fields of Asian and African textiles and dress by supporting new and original approaches to study and practice, foregrounding fresh perspectives and ground-breaking research.
Outcomes
The Karun Thakar Fund launches July 2021 with scholarships offered to BA, MA and PhD level student practitioners and researchers studying Asian or African textiles or dress either in the UK or internationally. One-time awards of up to £10,000 can be used towards tuition fees or maintenance costs. In future the fund will offer additional awards of up to £10,000 in the form of project grants supporting Asian and African textiles/fashion-based research, practice, exhibitions, events, image licensing and more.
