The Charles Wallace India Trust (CWIT), the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), and the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts (AFA) are delighted to announce the recipient of the Curatorial Research Fellowship (2026) for extended research at the V&A.
Abhidha Niphade
THREADS OF AGENCY
THREADS OF AGENCY
Abhidha Niphade’s project explores late 19th- to mid-20th-century photographs from the V&A collection, both identified and anonymous, focusing on narratives of women’s labour in textile production. Through this lens, the research assesses the forms of skill and agency that women have historically embodied. As the founder of a women’s organisation dedicated to community and craft, Niphade’s work interrogates how women’s contributions in rural, domestic, and vocational economies have been over-aestheticised, marginalised, or excluded in photographic and social histories. By critiquing archival frameworks that have long reinforced rigid distinctions between “work,” “craft,” and “tradition,” the project seeks to re-evaluate the historical construction of women’s labour. Ultimately, it aims to reshape broader discourses on gendered economies, visibility, and the recognition of women’s roles in shaping cultural landscapes.
Profile
Abhidha Niphade is a lawyer, researcher, and writer whose work explores the intersections of women’s labour, rural life, and systems of documentation in India. With a legal background, she previously practised at the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court. Her practice is deeply rooted in collaboration with rural women and girls in Maharashtra, addressing critical questions of agency, representation, and historical visibility. Driven by an interest in documentation and the structures that shape recognition and erasure, her research bridges writing, community engagement, and visual-archival inquiry. She is cultivating a practice at the nexus of law and the image. Abhidha is also the founder of ARUNA, a women-led collective dedicated to advancing livelihood, education, and dignity.
Abhidha Niphade is a lawyer, researcher, and writer whose work explores the intersections of women’s labour, rural life, and systems of documentation in India. With a legal background, she previously practised at the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court. Her practice is deeply rooted in collaboration with rural women and girls in Maharashtra, addressing critical questions of agency, representation, and historical visibility. Driven by an interest in documentation and the structures that shape recognition and erasure, her research bridges writing, community engagement, and visual-archival inquiry. She is cultivating a practice at the nexus of law and the image. Abhidha is also the founder of ARUNA, a women-led collective dedicated to advancing livelihood, education, and dignity.
We would like to thank all the eminent jury members – Pradeep Dalal (Director, Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant), Latika Gupta (Director, Projects, Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation) and Dr Duncan Forbes (Head of Photography, V&A) for their time and expertise.