International Folk Art Market will host artist Ashita Singhal who will lead several workshops and pop-up events. Courtesy/IFAM
IFAM News:
SANTA FE —The International Folk Art Market (IFAM) has announced an expanded Artist-in-Residence program this March, bringing returning artist Ashita Singhal, from India. She will teach three public workshops as part of the Folk Art Connections program, host two pop-ups, engage with the community, and give a talk for IFAM donors about the impact of the New Artist Sponsorship Program.
For the first time, this year, all new artists will receive a full sponsorship, including transportation and housing.
“This helps to remove barriers so artists can share their culture, skills, and stories here in Santa Fe,” said IFAM CEO Stacey Edgar.
At Singhal’s first Market, in 2025, she sold all her pieces, giving her a much-needed financial boost to continue her work.
Born and raised in Delhi, one of India’s most polluted cities, Singhal sees waste as a resource and a material for her design explorations. Through Paiwand, her design studio, launched in 2018, Singhal challenges the conventional norms of textile design while focusing on the importance of craft and the need for sustainability.
“We are not just upcycling materials; we are creating systems for circularity, nurturing craft communities, and challenging the fashion industry—the second largest source of pollution in the world—to find beauty and value in the discarded.” —Ashita Singhal, Paiwan (Santa Fe New Mexican)
Singhal sees beauty in bits and fragments, the unwanted things in life, and believes in adding value by repurposing those forgotten pieces. Using handcrafted techniques such as handloom weaving, embroidery, and patchwork, her company repurposes waste material and transforms it into unique fabrics for flowy, gender-neutral apparel and distinctive home furnishings. The pre-consumer textile waste they use comes from designers, export houses, and rag pickers as well as discarded saris and other garments headed for the landfill.
The artist got her start studying fashion design and interning in a conscious apparel design house. What started as a student project grew into her thriving design studio in Noida, India, a city known for fast fashion production, which generates a significant portion of the world’s textile waste. Paiwand’s location in Noida highlights the potential for positive change in a major center of mass production.
Singhal’s process blends heritage techniques, such as aari embroidery from Delhi and kantha stitching from Bengal, with modern ingenuity. By threading waste fabric strips into these time-honored practices, she creates something entirely new. Paiwand has upcycled more than 30,000 kilograms of fabric, saving millions of liters of water, and is setting high standards for ethically produced fashion.
About the Workshops
Location: IFAM Center, 620 Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe
Tickets are limited. Please purchase here: https://folkartmarket.org/ifam-events/folkartconnectionsashitasignhal
In Singhal’s hands-on public workshops, participants experiment with combining color, texture, and pattern while joining strips and composing patchwork surfaces that can then be woven or embellished. Students can bring their own fabric scraps to cut into strips or elements that can be woven, patched, or stitched. Singhal will share her expertise about the waste stream, artisan livelihoods, and traditional weaving while teaching practical exercises so students learn context about both ecology and craft economies.
Session Dates and Times:
- Friday, March 20: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
- Saturday, March 21: 1– 5 p.m.
- Sunday, March 22: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
- Open Enrollment: New Artist Sponsorship
Every year, IFAM offers donors a chance to support new individual artists and groups. One of the largest donor campaigns for IFAM, this program covers new artists’ airfare, ground transportation, meals, training, and more. Singhal will speak to IFAM donors about what this sponsorship and participation in the 2025 Market meant to her and her business. She will also speak about her journey as a social entrepreneur working in weaving, upcycled textiles, and design.
About the Pop-Up Sales:
Three-Day IFAM Pop-Up with Ashita Singhal
This is the first chance to welcome the popular textile artist Ashita Singhal to Santa Fe! Please come to the pop-up at the IFAM headquarters and bring your questions as we celebrate her as the IFAM 2026 Artist-in-Residence. Singhal’s one-of-a-kind handmade apparel, textiles, and small goods will be available to purchase.
Location: IFAM, 620 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505
Friday, March 20, through Sunday, March 22, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Free and open to the public
Woven Futures: Threads of Kinship Across Continents
In collaboration with 4Kinship, a curated selection of Paiwand apparel, textiles, and small goods will be available to purchase. Ashita Singhal will be in attendance and will oversee a collaborative weaving installation on a handmade loom installation, suspended from the ceiling of the 4Kinship space and inspired by Paiwand’s participatory textile works.
Guests will be encouraged to bring pieces of used cloth and found items to incorporate into the piece. This event will be more than a talk or pop-up—it is a living artwork, a shared act of making, and a powerful public statement about sustainability, craft, and collective responsibility.
Location: 4Kinship, 1300 Rufina Circle, Suite B1, Santa Fe, NM 87507
Monday, March 23, 1-4 p.m.
Free and open to the public