Dear fellow South Asian creative educator,
I am Ravista Mehra, founder of South Asian Salon (SAS), a community-first archive and a professional ecosystem for South Asian creatives globally, focussed on connecting, educating and uplifting South Asian creative practitioners.
Whether you are a South Asian creative educator in the region, the diaspora, or a South Asian immigrant somewhere else in the world, I want to speak directly to you about something that feels both urgent and overdue; the authorship, access and quality of our art and design education.
Currently we are living through a time in which higher education is becoming increasingly inaccessible; financially, structurally and culturally. The cost of a degree has multiplied within a decade with regards to hike in fees, visa, housing and cost of living. Access remains dependent on privilege or debt. Across institutions in countries such as the US and the UK, tolerance for the immigrant and the “other” is visibly and dangerously narrowing.
At the same time, creative curricula continue to centre Western frameworks, references and pedagogies as default. Whilst our histories are positioned as electives, our aesthetics are categorised as niche or trends, and our philosophies are treated as alternative.
This imbalance is not sustainable. We cannot continue to be written out of a system we are actively a part of building.
In the gurukul system of ancient India, education was understood not as the imposition of knowledge from the outside, but as the drawing out of what already exists within. It was a direct and personal exchange between mentor and mentee. The transfer of knowledge, through building a relationship that centered personal growth as much as skill and technique. In the commercialisation of education we have forgotten the essence of the role of an educator, of first and foremost that of a mentor. SAS is changing that.
To do this responsibly, we are identifying like-minded, industry-based creative educators across the world, wherever they may be, who want to join the SAS Mentorship Educators Cohort to help shape the next generation of creative practitioners. When we say creative, we mean the expansive fields of art, architecture, craft, design, film, fashion, food and music.
The SAS Mentorship Educators Cohort will select and train creative educators and practitioners from around the world, to deliver personalised one-on-one mentorship that supports not only technical development, but the shaping of a student’s creative voice, critical thinking and cultural grounding, so that their work is not only skilled, but situated. SAS mentors work across stages, supporting high school students as they prepare for entry into creative education, as well as early and mid-career practitioners seeking rigorous critique, clarity in their practice, and guidance in navigating creative industries, grounded in cultural awareness and authority.
SAS operates as a facilitator, mentor and platform, connecting educators directly with students seeking personalised guidance. Compensation for each educator is commission-based and structured according to experience and qualification, ensuring fairness and recognition of the depth of your practice. All of this is conducted online.
Furthermore, up until now design has been used to extract from South Asia, whether that be our labour, materials, or aesthetics. Our creative education can instead cultivate practitioners who build economic agency alongside authentic cultural representation.
We are building a way of educating that centres our ways of thinking, making and being as foundational knowledge rather than supplementary DEI discourse, by
This is the work of building infrastructure by mentoring, guiding and educating one individual at a time.
If we do not create systems that centre us, we will continue to function within systems that marginalise us.
If you are a South Asian creative educator, or even a practitioner ready to formalise your pedagogy, and you believe our ways of thinking and making deserve structural permanence, then I invite you to collaborate with SAS.
We welcome educators whose practices align with this approach to reach out and begin a conversation about joining the SAS Mentorship Educators Cohort. You can reach us at info@southasiansalon.com for any questions or clarifications.
Please complete this form to apply for the SAS Mentorship Educators Cohort. Selected applicants will receive fully funded training by professional educators as part of the first cohort. The programme will be conducted online, and applicants may apply from anywhere in the world.
Applications close end of day Thursday, 11 June, 2026 (GMT). Shortlisted participants will be asked to interview from 15 June, 2026. Final selected list will be announced 15 July, 2026. The selected cohort will begin training in August 2026.
With respect,
Ravista Mehra
Founder, South Asian Salon
