Kaleshi’s Cottage
by Gaya Kashyap
Goa, Delhi, Mumbai
Project Description
Kaleshi’s Cottage is a multimedia storytelling universe blending fashion, fantasy, and radical community expression through comics, games, and collaborative cultural work.
Expected Impact
Kaleshi’s Cottage offers a transformative cultural intervention by centering queer, Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi narratives through a rich, multi-format storytelling universe. At a time when South Asian fashion and queer expression are often co-opted without context, our project provides a space for community-authored stories, playful worldbuilding, and radical imagination. By merging comics, live performances, digital magazines, and real-world activations, we challenge exclusionary norms in both media and fashion. Locally, we aim to normalize joy, softness, and complexity in queer and caste-oppressed storytelling, beyond trauma and tokenism. Globally, we contribute to the discourse on decolonial futurisms and participatory culture. The change we hope to inspire is clear: a shift toward inclusive, collaborative, and imaginative spaces where marginalized voices lead the narrative — not just as subjects, but as creators, curators, and world-builders.
Applicant Background
The core team behind Kaleshi’s Cottage brings a powerful blend of media, performance, and community-building experience to realize this ambitious project: Samarth Khanna is a non-binary filmmaker and producer with a background in film and media from Xavier’s Institute of Communications. They previously worked at MTV India as a writer-producer-director, creating pop-culture-forward content. Samarth went on to executive produce Lailaa Manju, a widely acclaimed queer reimagining of Laila Majnu, centering a non-binary and trans cast and crew. They also founded Colaboratory, a collective focused on inclusive, community-driven cultural production and digital storytelling. Gaya (aka Juicebox) is a seasoned event curator and community builder with over five years of experience in immersive programming. They have a background in video production and have been a part of large-scale festivals such as SAUCE by 4/4 Experiences and Spextrum 2022 thanks to their time at lemonade.social. As the lead producer of Kaleshi’s Cottage, they bring logistical expertise, networked outreach, and a strong background in curating drag, music, and interactive events. Hana (aka Dykerani) is a trans dyke illustrator, writer, and designer leading the visual language of Kaleshi’s Cottage. She heads design for both the magazine and comic strip and authored the first volume. Hana previously created 3D assets for NFT companies and became well-known in India’s queer digital scene for her original characters and fantasy-driven worldbuilding. Her creative style merges trans futurism with cottagecore, softness, and resistance. Together, their collective expertise spans fiction, performance, visual design, and real-world community building—essential to bringing this universe to life across multiple formats. We have complied all of our past work (including other team members) here on this google drive link, please give it a go : https://bit.ly/3HS0QgZ
Resources Needed
- Funding
- Mentorship
- Visibility
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