The Karun Thakar Fund

About the Project

The Karun Thakar Fund is presented by Karun Thakar in collaboration with the V&A. The Fund offers scholarships and grants 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 innovative and meaningful 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 original approaches to study and practice, foregrounding fresh perspectives and ground-breaking research.

Outcomes

The Karun Thakar Fund offers funding via Scholarship Awards and Project Grants. Scholarship Awards of up to £10,000 are offered to students focussing on Asian or African textiles or dress at any accredited university worldwide. Scholarship Awards will next be offered in 2023. Project Grants of up to £5000 are offered to early-career researchers, practitioners, and curators as well as community leaders, grassroot collectives and community-based arts organisations in support of projects focused on Asian and African textiles and dress. The first Project Grants will be awarded in 2022.