Villa Swagatam

Clémence Vazard is a French transdisciplinary artist exploring invisible connections between living beings and their environments through collaborative research-creation methodologies.

Distinguished graduate of Central Saint Martins' MA Art & Science (London), she has exhibited internationally and developed monumental participatory projects, including "Palabras del Amazonas" in the Ecuadorian Amazon, which gathered over 300 participants.

Her recent practice uses natural dyeing to reveal relationships between humans and waterbodies within a collaborative ecology framework. Recipient of the ADAGP Research Fund for "La Parole de l'Eau" (2023), she has been laureate of residency programs including Villa CreaColombia (Medellín, Colombia), La Fabrique des résidences (Macas, Ecuador), Massa Stories (Sidi r'bat, Morocco), Ateliers de la Madeleine and LUMA Ateliers (both in Arles, France).

নদীর সুতা / Rivers' Threads

"The forms and contours of riversheds define places and relationships."

-Giuseppe Moretti, Bassins fluviaux de la conscience

In the Bangladesh delta, where 17% of the land will be submerged by 2050, I found myself asking: how do we truly listen to rivers?

I discovered nakshi kantha-women's embroidery on recycled saris, passed down through generations-not as craft, but as a five-step ritual of manifestation: observe, feel, connect, represent, manifest. In rural Bangladesh, women don't just document their world; they embroider their desires into being, stitching futures into existence.

I let the rivers teach me. Floating past Showari Ghat, I watched washermen's fabrics ripple across the Buriganga in ephemeral waves of color-each undulation a breath (observe). At Begum Bazar, my hands moved through piles of discarded saris, choosing by touch and instinct (feel). In Rajshahi, Runa Begum's fingers guided mine through nakshi kantha's ancient rhythms (connect). With Jagadish Chandra Roy, I dyed jute threads in indigo, watching forgotten fibers transform into ecological treasure (represent).

At Brihatta Art Foundation, I invited participants to embroider their river. "What river are you?" Their threads wove stories, memories, longings (manifest). On the reverse side, I embroidered back-from the river's gaze. Water has always been a surface for seeing futures; my stitches extended this divinatory power, capturing what rivers reflect: boat ballets, bridge constructions, the pulse of everyday gestures.

This dialogue revealed what I'd sensed all along: we look at rivers, and rivers look back at us. Through collaborative practice, textile becomes confluence where artisanal knowledge meets environmental consciousness, weaving threads that reconnect communities to their rivers-because only by recognizing rivers as beings can we protect the futures we're embroidering together.

Dye, Drift, Desire: A Textile Fieldwork

নদীর সুতা / Rivers’ Threads, an ongoing project by Clémence Vazard developed during her Villa Swagatam residency at the Brihatta Art Foundation in Bangladesh, approaches the delta as more than a site, it becomes both archive and collaborator, unfolding through water, textile, and the embodied labor of dyeing, mending, and stitching. Rivers in this project are not backdrop but a key methodological element. Vazard follows a five-stage process - observe, feel, connect, represent, manifest that allows field encounters to determine what the work can become.

Brihatta Art foundation had a key role to this research-led practice. Through local mediation, translation, and logistics, the residency opened access to sites that rarely fold into the artist’s studio. In Dhaka, Vazard explored the crowded sari markets of Begum Bazar and the industrial edges of the Buriganga, selecting discarded garments whose stains and frayed borders already hold intimate histories of wear. She collected river water - labeling jars with names such as Buriganga and Turag - and brought these samples back to Brihatta’s studio, where dye baths, wringing, and drying translated the rivers’ chemistry into stains and gradients.

Brihatta also facilitated sustained exchanges with artisans. Working with craft practitioner Jagadish Chandra Roy, Vazard experimented with indigo and black clay, observing how vegetal tannins and mineral-rich earth generate tones that feel inseparable from riverbeds. Alongside reclaimed saris, she traced jute - Bangladesh’s “golden fiber” - through markets and production sites, reframing a biodegradable material long displaced by plastic as an ecological proposition in a delta where projections warn that up to 17% of the land may be submerged by 2050.

Traveling through Brihatta’s network to Rajshahi and river communities near the Mohanonda and Padma, Vazard encountered domestic surfaces as vernacular cartographies: mud walls marked with alpana motifs, baskets woven from local fibers, raw cotton in traders’ sacks, and everyday techniques for making with what the landscape provides. Central throughout is nakshi kantha, learned through close instruction from artisan Runa Begum and other embroiderers, where repeated stitches become gestures of anchoring and, at times, a form of folk magic: embroidering desires for the future into being.

By offering time, studio infrastructure, and a community of dialogue - field access, introductions, and a framework for participatory exchange - Clémence Vazard and Brihatta enabled Rivers’ Threads to emerge as a hybrid textile language: reclaimed cloth, jute, river pigments, and collaborative knowledge woven into a living record of a territory in metamorphosis.

Humaira Hossain
PhD Candidate, University of Illinois Chicago
Researcher, Brihatta Art Foundation

From the outset, the residency unfolded not as a fixed outcome but as a process shaped by conversations, fieldwork, and attentive listening to people, materials, and places. Moving along the Buriganga, Padma, and other river systems, the project wove together walking, gathering, dyeing, stitching, and storytelling as modes of learning. Collected materials played a central role. Discarded sarees carried intimate traces of use-creases, repairs, and strains that marked lives lived. The exploration of jute, indigo, natural dyes, and other river-based materials reflected the collective histories of the land, foregrounding sustainability not as a theme but as a method embedded in everyday practice.

At the heart of the project lies Nakshi Kantha, a practice passed down through generations of women in Bangladesh. Here, embroidery becomes more than fabric; it serves as an archive of memory and emotion. Working closely with artisan Runa Begum, Vazard learned embroidery not only as technique, but as a way of listening, to inherited gestures, rhythms, and desires stitched into cloth.

Inspired by Sultana's Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, the project invited women to imagine their relationships with rivers and waterways, translating these reflections into a large-scale collective kantha. What emerged was not a singular artwork but a network of relationships between makers and materials, past and present, land and water. Embracing slowness, the process combined artistic intuition with community connection, historical inquiry, ecological awareness, and collective making.

Rivers Threads invites us to experience rivers as living, breathing spaces that carry culture, memory, and everyday life-offering not closure, but a deeper, more attentive way of seeing.

Souradeep Dasgupta
Researcher, Brihatta Art Foundation

It is a great source of pride to welcome the Villa Swagatam residency programme to Bangladesh for the second consecutive year, in partnership with the Institut français. By enabling French artists to travel around the world and broaden their horizons, these residencies strengthen cultural exchanges and creative imaginations across borders.

This year. Clémence Vazard's work highlighted a unique combination of artistic concepts, the marriage of textiles and rivers; a perfect embodiment of the most beautiful and captivating aspects of Bangladesh. I would like to acknowledge the scientific rigour of Clémence's research, which, combined with her artistic talent, has enabled her to weave together a history of Bengali craftsmanship, from traditional dyeing to Nakshi Kantha embroidery, naturally highlighting the major role that women play in its production. Her work highlights an artistic heritage that is perpetually connected to the country's natural ecosystems, inviting us to rethink our relationship with tradition and nature itself.

I would like to express my warmest thanks to the teams of Brihatta Foundation and Alliance Française de Dhaka, both for welcoming Clémence and for the efforts they made to ensure the artistic and human success of this residency. I hope that this artistic collaboration will lead to many more in the future!

H.E. Jean-Marc Séré-Charlet
Ambassadeur de France au Bangladesh

Alliance Française de Dhaka is delight to see the outcome of the project developed by Clémence during her six-week residency at Brihatta Art Foundation. Rooted in her ongoing exploration of water, territory, and craft, this residency marks a significant moment in the evolution of her practice in environmental storytelling through textiles.

During her stay, Clémence engaged deeply with regional textile knowledge, including research visits to Rajshahi, where she explored local materials, dye traditions, and artisanal practices. These encounters enriched her work both materially and conceptually, allowing the territory itself to actively shape the artistic process.

The residency brings together natural dyes derived from plants and water sources with hand-embroidered interventions that map ecological relationships and living systems. The resulting textiles function simultaneously as artistic expressions and environmental documents, highlighting the interdependence between craft traditions and natural ecosystems.

This residency reflects Alliance Française de Dhaka's continued commitment to fostering meaningful cross-cultural exchange. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Brihatta Art Foundation, the Embassy of France in Dhaka, and Villa Swagatam for their invaluable support in making this residency possible. I am confident that this collaboration and shared. Commitment will continue in the future.

François Chambraud
Director
Alliance Française de Dhaka

This residency and the exhibition it culminates to were made possible thanks to an amazing partnership between Villa Swagatam, the French Institute, the Alliance Française in Dhaka, and the Brihatta Art Foundation.

I am incredibly grateful for the unforgettable three months filled with discovery, connection, and creativity. My time here has transformed not just my art but also me, grounding my passion for creation and sharing. A huge thank you to François and Mamun for their unwavering support and warmth throughout this journey.

Brihatta Art Foundation provided a vibrant space for my work to flourish, and brought together precious individuals who gave my life in Dhaka a sense of daily life, showed me their city, their culture, their country, and offered me their friendship—thank you, Shahadat, Vabi, Bibha, Shada, Achol, Anas, Tirtha, Niloy, Arko, Mukter & Arup. Thank you to Bishwajit, Nusrat, and Parvez for the trust and freedom you granted me regarding my production.

Thanks to the printmaking department of the University of Dhaka, which, from the very beginning of my arrival, included me in a family that shares the same passion; that of printmaking. To the students who participated in my adventure and exploration in this new unknown by showing me what is part of their identity.

A special thank you to Asmita and Bashir, a relationship that started with a shared passion and exchange and, after many laughs, transformed into a beautiful friendship. This exhibition wouldn't have happened without the incredible support from Naeem, Tajariba, and Fahim, three true gems of the printmaking department, who stood by me in my creative and ambitious journey.

Thank you to everyone who made me feel at home, turning the word 'friendship' into something truly special. You made leaving this residency, this city, and this country a real challenge. Thank you Alvee, Nova, Tasnim, and Rumky—for being uniquely you.

Finally, I dedicate this exhibition to all those who have the courage to love a world in decline.

Julia Lebrao Sendra
Artist, Printmaker

As winter settled over Dhaka on a mid-November day, my heart yearned to meet some good old friends. Dhaka is a gargantuan metropolis by any measure—congested, smog-filled, yet bustling with life. People are always busy in pursuit of something elusive. But if you're lucky, as I was, you can start your day slowly and catch a brief moment of calm.

Although my visit to Bangladesh was primarily to begin collecting data for my doctoral research, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit Brihatta. It is a unique space very close to my heart that emerged from a conservation project, offering a rare glimpse of green in the heart of a city that often makes us feel disconnected from nature. This space is a testament to what can be achieved through artistic intervention when a dedicated team comes together to breathe life back into a postindustrial structure—an extraordinary undertaking in an urban context.

Stepping into Brihatta is always a warm experience, but that day felt even more welcoming when we were served a hearty lunch made with Brihatta's own organic produce.

In the midst of good food and adda with familiar faces, I met Julia—the new resident artist at Brihatta. I noticed Julia immersed in her work, wearing a vibrant red kurta as she calmly sketched what she called "doodles" on a wooden panel. She fit in effortlessly, as though she were a natural inhabitant of the space. When we spoke, I gained insight into her ideas and how she channels them into her artistic practices. Julia, originally from France, was selected out of fifty-one applicants for a three-month residency at Brihatta.

Her core idea stems from the philosophical connection between change and touch, inspired by Octavia E. Butler's quote: "What you touch, you change. What you change, changes you." This concept influenced her artistic process during the residency, where she explores how. touch-both physical and metaphorical-transforms not only the artist and their creations, but also the environment and the audience. The quote originates from a post-apocalyptic narrative about a young girl who, despite growing up in chaos, envisions a way to rebuild human connections and harmony. Julia finds a parallel between this story and her own creative journey, emphasizing the interconnectedness of actions and their effects on personal growth and surroundings.

Her work speaks of mutual transformation-how human actions shape the environment, and in turn, how the environment reshapes individuals. This reflective and layered approach underpins her creative vision, tying together themes of connection, responsibility, and the profound ripple effects of seemingly simple gestures.

She takes this complex philosophical idea into her art and inscribes the quote in Bangla on a lungi (a traditional garment), emphasizing the cultural and personal significance of the concept of sparsho (touch). She values the interpretive freedom the quote offers, likening it to the opening of a book that allows viewers to experience the art without preconceived notions.

[I] could sense the organic inspiration in her soap carvings-particularly a waterlily, meticulously shaped yet still retaining a raw quality that connected with her other pieces. The tactile nature of her work drew you in-every touch felt like an intimate, sensory experience. During her residency, she translated her observations into visual and literary forms. Her poems, like her artwork, expressed a constantly evolving relationship between nature and humanity. One line about the nearby river, our Buriganga, especially moved me: "In all of her pain, she screams, yet we do not hear her cry."

In turn, contemplating her ideas of interconnected changes brings me back to Brihatta's own story. Once an abandoned rooftop in a tannery district, Brihatta transformed the space into a vibrant hub for art and environmental stewardship. Brihatta's projects embody the multifaceted nature of change, both environmental and psychological. Brihatta's Mukti exhibition examined themes of freedom and transformation. The Home Art Project reflected on the difficult but essential changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, Gongaburi explores the shifting landscape surrounding the Buriganga River and its impact on the local community.

It was predestined that Julia would join Brihatta's continuous experimentation with the concept of change, both as an idea and as a lived experience. The space, its ethos, and the community had already begun to shape her artistic journey. In turn, her work would leave its mark on Brihatta. This is how change unfolds-quietly yet powerfully, shifting, reworking, and renaming itself in infinite ways.

Humaira Hossain
PhD researcher and instructor
University of Illinois Chicago, USA