Zadih (ٕزَد): Rethinking the Workplace

Zadih (ٕزَد) is a collaboration between research, art and testimony, brought to life through Dr Kamini Gupta’s research on the importance of physical workspaces for women, artist Sujata Setia’s visual practice, and the lived experiences and creative contributions of Kashmiri women embroidery artisans. The project asks what meaning a workplace can hold beyond merely being a place of employment, and how spaces of work can shape women's wellbeing, relationships, identity and sense of belonging.

Join Dr Kamini Gupta and artist Sujata Setia for an evening conversation exploring the making of Zadih (ٕزَد) and the questions at the heart of the collaboration.

Together, they will reflect on:

• Women and work: How do workplaces shape women's lives, identities and wellbeing?

• Beyond employment: When can a workplace become a space of community, solidarity, care and belonging?

• Work and wellbeing: What happens when social, cultural, economic and geopolitical histories enter the spaces in which women work?

• Research and art: What can happen when academic research, artistic practice and lived testimony come together?

• Collaborative making: How can participatory and arts-based approaches create different ways of producing, sharing and understanding knowledge?

The conversation will be followed by an opportunity for informal discussion and audience reflection.

Alongside the evening programme, the Zadih (ٕزَد) exhibition will be open to visitors throughout the day, offering an opportunity to encounter the collaborative textile works at their own pace.

No prior knowledge of art, photography or social science is required. Everyone is welcome.

Dr. Kamini Gupta (Senior Lecturer in Business and Society, King’s College London)

Sujata Setia (Lens-based, Interdisciplinary Artist)

Open to all

The event is open to all. It may be of particular interest to women in and outside formal employment; asylum-seeking and refugee women; charities working on the area of women's wellbeing, work and identity; employers and those working in the corporate sector; policymakers and organisations working on gender, equality, migration and social inclusion; researchers; and people working across the arts, culture and community sectors.