ABOUT THE LAB

The Bamboo and Comilla Cotton Lab in Sikkim, organized by the Goethe-Institut Kolkata, focuses on two key regional materials.

Bamboo, a fast-growing and regenerative resource, is deeply rooted in the Eastern Himalayas and has long been used in construction, crafts, and everyday objects for its strength and flexibility. Alongside this, the lab explores Comilla cotton from the West Garo Hills of Meghalaya—a historically present yet underexplored material now seeing revival. It offers an opportunity to rethink cotton as part of broader regional fibre systems and value chains.

In this lab, designers, researchers, and craftspeople engage with bamboo and cotton as part of a contemporary material system. Through field research, testing, and prototyping, they explore how these materials can be processed, combined, and adapted for new applications in architecture and design.

The lab aims to connect traditional knowledge with experimental practices, reimagining bamboo and cotton for future-oriented, regionally grounded innovation.