Kahini Arts Organization – Piyali Somaia
At the intersection of global health, art, partnerships and innovation to create a healthier and more equitable world, Piyali Somaia believes in the power of art to create change. It was through this lens that she initiated the Kahini Arts Organization. The choice of Kahini as the name for the organization was deliberate as Piyali values the power of storytelling and Kahini means “story” or “tale” in Bengali.
Collaboration is a vital portion of Kahini’s ethos. In 2024 Piyali approached The Social Studio, which runs programs in Apparel, Fashion and Textiles for refugee or non-English speaking, new migrants or asylum seekers with the Sari Project. This was based around 100 donated pre-loved saris from Melbourne’s Bengali, Indian and Sri Lankan communities. Traditionally women hold onto their sarees as treasured heirlooms, rich with memories and cultural identity. Changing lifestyles meant many daughters weren’t wearing saris often and many saris were packed away. Piyali knew that The Social Studio’s strong ethical commitment, circular design and zero-waste philosophy that every piece created carries both purpose and sustainability, would be a perfect fit.
The collaboration between Kahini and The Social Studio started in January 2025 and resulted in the graduating students and aunties (sari donors) connecting and sharing their cultural stories and linking these to design their garments. The students designed and created a garment from a donated sari and worked with the ‘aunty’ directly throughout the designing and stitching of the reinterpretation of the new item of clothing.
A culminating event was held to celebrate the women designers and the ‘aunties’ together in an exhibition where their stories and creative garments and design processes together with photos, paintings, poems, music, food, and dance could be enjoyed by the public.
The Social Studio team used some of the pre-loved saris to create a retail collection inspired by the rich cultural experiences through the Sari Project, and that debuted at Melbourne Fashion week (Image courtesy Melbourne Fashion Week).
“One of the outcomes of the project for the women migrant designers is that the project really created a way for students to explore how they can continue to practise their creativity as well as navigate next steps and build confidence – this is feedback from the social studio.” (P. Somaia, personal communication, March 26, 2026).
One of the outcomes of the project for the women migrant designers is that the project really created a way for students to explore how they can continue to practise their creativity as well as navigate next steps and build confidence – this is feedback from the Social Studio – P. Somaia
Future Directions for Kahini
“I’m looking at getting the sari project out there to more audiences through museums and exhibitions both in Australia and internationally as well collaborating with other similar types of projects around the world. We will be showcasing The Sari Project in collaboration with a touring exhibition from London called “The Offbeat Sari” at Bunjil Place in July/August this year” (P. Somaia, personal communication, March 26, 2026).
This year Piyali is looking to focus on education and exploring connections with an Indian School in rural West Bengal where many girls are not educated due to cultural, economic and logical reasons. Piyali was inspired by their work. “These girls attend enthusiastically, they get educated and it’s not just academics and sewing. They learn singing, poetry, dancing, yoga and health education. It’s very holistic. The school runs entirely on donations” (P. Somaia, personal communication, March 16, 2026).
Piyali would like to see how to help through cultural exchange and creating a support network here in Australia. The power of this school is that when the girls go back to their communities they really change their families possibilities.
EXPLORING KAHINI THROUGH THE LENS OF THE ETHICAL EQUATIONⓒ THINKING TOOL
EQUITY (ethical value)
+ CULTURE & MIGRATION (real-world inquiry)
+ ART & INNOVATION (skills)
= CREATE CHANGE (purposeful impact)
We were interested in Piyali’s work as an exemplar of purposeful impact, which aligns with our own Harbord & Khan philosophy as seen in our Ethical Equationⓒ Thinking Tool (from our book ‘21 Visual Thinking Tools for the Classroom: Developing Real World Problem-Solvers in Grades 5-10’).
The Ethical Equationⓒ is a novel planning tool that uses a mathematical formula to generate ideas. It consists of an ethical value, a real-world inquiry, (subject) skills and purposeful impact and can be used to plan real world projects and design curriculum.
References
kahini.com.au
www.bunjilplace.com.au/events/offbeat-sari
thesocialstudio.org
routledge.com/21-Visual-Thinking-Tools-for-the-Classroom-Developing-Real-World-Problem-Solvers-in-Grades-5-10/Harbord-RiazKhan/p/book/9781032626222
