Hamesha Project | South Asian craft kits & events

We are so excited to be partnering with the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center to put on Brown Thumbs: Exploring Punjabi x Mexican Land Solidarity! We need your help to bring this beautiful celebration of art to life!  ✨ Brown Thumbs will be showcasing how connection to land & agriculture 👩🏾‍🌾 manifests in the artistic and sociocultural identities of Punjabi and Mexican communities– how this common ground has historically created solidarity between these cultures, and how this relationship manifests today. 🫱🏽‍🫲🏾 Through a panel, performances, and a community art activation we aim to honor these intersecting histories, and build collective power as a means to resist division and threats to safety in contemporary times. We’re raising funds to bring this event to life while also directly supporting farmworkers impacted by ICE. The majority of the proceeds will go to @desolasol.colectiva , an Indigenous led collective supporting undocumented farmworkers mutual aid efforts. If you’re able, there are two meaningful ways to contribute: you can purchase a sliding-scale ticket to attend, or donate to our community fundraiser to help us meet our goal. Every contribution—big or small—goes toward sustaining this gathering and redistributing resources to those who need them most. If this resonates, we’d love your support! 💕 Event Details: 🌱Sunday, June 14th 🌱5-9PM 🌱Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco We are in the process of choosing panelists and performers whose work lies in the intersection of these two cultures and communities. Panelists and performers will be announced soon! 🎉 All are welcome to join in this space of solidarity, reflection, and collective expression. This event is run by Pallavi Sarup (of @hameshaproject ) and Dilpreet Kaur (@imli.ix ) as part of APICC’s USAAF festival. It is funded by APICC, SFAC, and Grants for the Arts. The picture in our promotional materials features @kula.nursery , a South Asian farm and nursery in Petaluma owned by Zee Lilani. 📸: by Reema Kakaday @reemakakaday @apicc_sf #USAAF2026 #USAAF2026COMMONGROUND #USAAF #AANHPI #AANHPIARTS BAYAREA SANFRANCISCO SANFRANCISCOBAYAREA

Last year I had such a beautiful experience running my own community dye party series. I’m so excited to share that I’m bringing them back for the spring season! 🌱🌷🌺 Join me for a joyful afternoon of color, community, and upcycling. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore the vibrant possibilities of natural dyes made from locally foraged California Dye plants. Guided by a queer South Asian textile artist, you’ll learn about the basics of upcycling garments with natural dye, an ancestral textile tie-dye craft, and how textiles tie us altogether. This event invites you to slow down, connect with the land, and express your creativity through repurposing an old garment. All materials provided; open to all skill levels. Spring is a time for rebirth and renewal. A perfect time to do some spring cleaning and look through your closet to see what garments can be up cycled. In these turbulent times, it’s important we turn to nature and learn skills that decrease our dependency on consumption. Learning how to upcycle your clothes using the nature around you is a beautiful practice that does exactly that. ✨ In these workshops I will teach you: 🌸 How to identify plants with natural dyeing potential common in our area. 🌸 Basic principles of natural dye extraction and application. 🌸 Techniques for upcycling garments in your closet or flipping a thrifted find using sustainable methods. Ticket information and more details in my linkinbio! 💨🔗 📸 by @akevinyang

Seeking historians, researchers, botanists, land-tenders, ecologists, policy makers, etc. who have a background in these spheres:     ⁃    The Green Revolution as it pertains to Mexico and Punjab and it’s timelines     ⁃    The timeline of The Opium War to current day use in Punjab     ⁃    Drug policy, trade and effects (specific to Mexico and Punjab)     ⁃    Land laws, farm laws and resistance movements in California specific to Mexican and Punjabi agricultural workers     ⁃    History and present-day knowledge of Mexican and/or Punjabi farm laborers in California please share, feel free to dm me or @amuatma with questions, and the interest form can also be found at the link in bio 🌻 s/o @m0ssey for this flier & form 💗

Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful mother! Vinita Batra Sarup. Drawing your mother is an interesting process. Whenever I draw a portrait I’m confronted with the enormity of the human I’m drawing, and my connection to them. A mother-daughter relationship is such a deeply complex and nuanced one. As I drew her, I kept wondering where does she end and where do I begin? I grew up resisting drawing any parallels between her and I, but now I’m trying to lean in and be in awe of all the gifts that she gave me. I immediately felt drawn to this photo of her because her expression felt so quintessentially her. A rare candid photo that truly captured her essence. Here she looks so innocent and earnest to me. I see a lot of trust and openness in her eyes. I assume she’s turning back at the call of my dad. Maybe a little absentminded. I get a lot of those traits from her. It felt so effortless to draw her in a way that surprised me. Maybe it was the photo? Or maybe I just craved a deeper connection after resisting one most of my life. This is by far my favorite portrait I’ve drawn thus far of my family members. She received her PhD in Botany in India and is an expert gardener! I didn’t get her green thumb, but I eventually gained her appreciation for nature. She selflessly raised us as kids while also working full time as a professor in Chicago. She extends that care now to special ed kids as a teacher’s assistant. She bakes inventive cakes for her spiritual group every time there is an occasion. She was always such a resourceful and creative cook. Abandoning recipes in a way I still haven’t gotten comfortable doing. When she moved to the US after marrying my dad she was the only one of her family who had left India. Surrounded by an entirely new family. It was very isolating and arduous for her. Sadly South Asian daughter in-laws aren’t always treated with the most respect. That being said, growing up I watched her learn how to advocate for herself and carve out her own happiness. That strength and commitment to seeking out the joy in life was the greatest thing she ever could have taught us. Forever grateful to be her student and daughter 💕

right before Mother’s Day! NATURAL DYE WORKSHOP in Oakland!! Foraged to Fabric Vol 9 Join us for a whimsical afternoon on Sunday May 3 on a foray & natural dye afternoon to explore local flora and fungi and how to use them as natural dyes, crafting together in nature, and making our own tea towels! You’ll walk away with a hand-made gift just in time for Mother’s Day, or better yet- bring your mom (or the mom of your friend group) to craft together! This is the perfect way to enjoy a beautiful Bay Area spring afternoon, gain fiber art skills, and craft in community outside. By the end of this workshop, you will be able to spot familiar natural dyes plants that grow abundantly in the Bay Area and dye to your hearts desire at home. <3 Pallavi @hameshaproject and Cindy @cindydoedee Sunday, May 3, 1-4pm 📍Oakland (outdoor location sent to registered participants) details & tickets linked on our pages or at the url here: /e/foraged-to-fabric-pre-mothers-day-edition-76d1e328cc12 #bayareaevents #artevents #naturaldye #oakland

MOMMY THEMED NATURAL DYE WORKSHOP in Oakland!! Foraged to Fabric Vol 9 🧚🏽🌸 Join us for a whimsical afternoon on Sunday May 3 on a foray & natural dye afternoon to explore local flora and fungi and how to use them as natural dyes, crafting together in nature, and making our own tea towels! You’ll walk away with a hand-made gift just in time for Mother’s Day, or better yet- bring your mom (or the mom of your friend group) to craft together! 👩🏻 This is the perfect way to enjoy a beautiful Bay Area spring afternoon, gain fiber art skills, and craft in community outside. By the end of this workshop, you will be able to spot familiar natural dyes plants that grow abundantly in the Bay Area and dye to your hearts desire at home. 🌱 💕 Pallavi @hameshaproject and Cindy @cindydoedee . 📸: @akevinyang Sunday, May 3, 1-4pm Oakland (outdoor location sent to registered participants) Please see all the events details linked on our pages or at the url here: /e/foraged-to-fabric-pre-mothers-day-edition-76d1e328cc12 #bayareaevents #artevents #naturaldye #oakland

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER SURBHI SARUP!!!!!! I probably say this every April 9th, but how lucky am I to have a sister and a best friend all in one? Living across the country from you is hard, but less hard when I have all these sweet memories to look back on. I MISS YOU! All jokes aside, I am in the process of drawing a portrait of each member of my family as part of a long-term commission I have! This process feels so special. I live pretty far away from all of my immediate family, so getting to connect with them through art has been a tender way to soften the distance. Each portrait takes a lot of time, attention to detail, and reflection. The spaciousness gives me time to contemplate each relationship and what it means in the broader tapestry of our ancestral story. My sister is a doctor! She’s currently in her 1st year of residency in psychiatry. I’ve always admired her hard work and dedication to pursue a career that’s so difficult, and survive med school. At times, her career as a doctor and my career as an artist has felt at odds. So vastly different! When I attended her graduation last year and read the Hippocratic oath I saw so many similarities. An oath that pledges to act in the patient’s best interest and avoid harm. I realized that medicine and art are complementary healing forces, and that both of us are healers in our own ways. We are the two youngest of the grand children on our paternal side. I think it’s given us the spaciousness to make big life decisions based on our authentic truth rather than financial or familial pressure. We’ve both always shared the same tendency to love with our whole heart, show up for our community, and advocate for the voiceless. It’s sweet that our shared values manifested in careers that are an extension of that desire to heal and serve. ��So rich! So much to reflect on when it comes to family, ancestry, and the roles we play. For now, just join me in wishing Surbhi the most abundant and healthy 28th year of life. Love you lil sis! 💕

Two more community dye parties this spring! 🌻🌼🌻April 26th and May 17th. No better feeling than to do some spring cleaning and make art in nature with some beautiful people .✨ Ticket info in linkinbio 🔗

This week I decided to take a staycation and try and frolick more in my own town. I’m writing this from a Thai tea cafe as it rains. Getting time to leisurely journal and write and draw for the first time in awhile. Gifting myself a pause from the all consuming wild fire of running a small business. The balance between business and art is a tricky one. I’m lucky enough to be paid to make art, but it’s still hard to protect my time to create. I like both worlds, they reflect different sides of me as I studied business in college. That being said, last year my inner artist blossomed and I’m still fighting for her to bloom even more. Butterflies have been a recent canvas that’s allowed me to connect with myself, new artists, and even my own family. Last November I created a textile piece called “Golden Butterfly.” The second of three butterflies textile sculptures I have planned. This golden butterfly symbolized my own beautiful metamorphosis I undertook last year. Celebrating myself and how far I’ve come as a human. It was my first opportunity to display my art and share my process with an audience, and I’ll always treasure this piece for that reason. My next butterfly piece will be a tribute to my family & the migration they made as refugees. It’s a piece I get to create as a part of @realsoul.us beautiful project “Distance Between.” More on this soon. It’s a 3 year project that has allowed me to be expansive with the art I create and the time it takes. More storytelling on my process for this new project to come!! My tenderest dream is to be recognized for my art work and see it in galleries. What a beautiful gift to be able to pursue that dream. ✨

AAPI Heritage month is coming up and I’m remembering the corporate events I ran two years ago! Back when I had long hair and still lived in SF 🙃. How times have changed. I wanted to bring back this video to highlight that I’m offering natural dye and foraging-based workshops for teams looking for something hands-on, grounding, and culturally rooted. Through Hamesha Project, I facilitate experiences that bring people into relationship with plant-based color, South Asian textile traditions, and the land—while creating space for connection, creativity, and reflection. ✨ On-site natural dye workshops�Perfect for offices + team activations. Beginner-friendly, tactile, and a chance to step away from screens and into a shared creative process. 🌾 Foraging + natural dye workshops�Great for offsites + retreats. Slowing down outdoors, learning about local plants, and transforming what we gather into color. All workshops are customizable based on your team + needs. If you’re planning AAPI Heritage Month programming (or even summer offsites), I’d love to collaborate. Feel free to reach out or share with someone who might be a good fit 💛 #naturaldyes #corporateevent #teambuilding #craftworkshop #corporateretreat

Spring is almost upon us and with the beautiful weather we’re having in the Bay Area I think we’re all feeling the shift energetically. 🌸🌱 My community dye parties are a perfect opportunity to use that awakening to clear through your closet and find a way to bring new life to old clothing that needs a little love. 💕 Come learn about foraged natural dyes and make art in nature with me!! 🌎More details and sign up information in my bio! 🔗 #naturaldye #communitydye #upcycle #bayareaevents

Happy holi everyone! 🎊 In celebration of the holiday I thought I’d share a selection of colorful observations in nature and textiles I’ve witnessed recently. 🌈 Holi is the “festival of colors”, and marks the arrival of spring/the end of winter. When I think of spring I think of death of the old and rebirth of the new. Spring traditionally has been a turbulent, yet exciting time for me. Upending major pillars of my life to push me into better alignment with my authentic self. In the past that’s been scary, but I can’t help but hold some excitement for all that will bud this time around. Somethings must be removed in order for us to bloom. 🌸 In honor of spring, I’m going to be announcing the renewal of my community dye party series! A workshop series that will help nourish your relationship to the colors that exist in nature, and how you can use them to recycle old clothes in your closet. Stay tuned for more information on dates and timing! The hope is to experiment with new plants, new colors, new collaborations, and perhaps new techniques! Let me know if there are any kind of workshops you hope to see! ✨#naturaldye #holi #bayareaevents #craftworkshop