WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Kick ass! —T, Cojournal — Art & Copy Zine Club invitee, 2026
It was great to see you again, thank you for teaching me something that I do not know I’d need it🙏🏼 —Kongkea Long, 2026
I love being 21 and jumping into whatever I want to jump into. I will always appreciate you helping me make my first zine two months ago!! 😆😆😆 —Pat Sim, Art & Copy Zine Club, 2026
You make space for people to meet strangers and talk honestly about hard things they don’t get a chance to otherwise, which means you’re doing them a favor in a big way and that’s important. And you don’t have to know how it’s all going to turn out, ahead of time, Dipika. It’s okay to try new things and see, reading all of what you write, I often want to reply but I don’t know how to formulate it… —G, N Hanoi, 2017
I love it Dipika. You are quite the editor. Shortened but nothing important was taken out… You make dreams happen. —Panharithykun Phat, Cojournal — Art & Copy Zine Club, 2026
It is so cool what you are doing, and you are an amazingly talented facilitator. I really appreciate getting glimpses of your work. —AI, Cojournal — Art & Copy Zine Club, 2026
I feel much more confident and more myself… Like, it’s like something got unblocked in me. —Osnat Katz Moon, Cojournal — Art & Copy 2025
I really admire how you’re always about improving in the next iternation of what you’re doing. These days people just go to AI for that, but I really like the human-touch to it. —Saranit Vongkiatkajorn, Cojournal — Art & Copy 2025
It’s finally the day to publish the zine and receive the four copies. I’m happy with that. It was great time and moment working on making a zine with you… I appreciate all the time we met and the conversation we shared. So lovely. —Huyly Hour, Cojournal — Art & Copy 2025
Gorgeous… It’s perfect!… Thank you so much. —Michael Bridgett, Jr, for a to-be-released cover art iamage for a new Mike Dynamo song, 2025
About your design… Two words, I’d say. Bold and clean. —N, On Design Kompany’s portfolio, 2025
It was so lucky to meet you, and I could think of my own future again as well. —J, Speaking in the Spaces, Sapporo, 2025
As you talked, hunched over, sitting on the ground, with your eyes sparkling, you looked just like you did 30 years ago, and I felt nostalgic and somehow at ease. —K, 東京でのZine祭り, 2025
I’ve known Dipika for 30 years. And for 30 years, she’s always collected things, cut them up, copied them, photographed them or otherwise “changed” them in one way or another for her own use. I used to think, you can draw, you can write—why all these “borrowed” images and words? Fallen leaves from Karsamaki, Finland. Found objects from Battambang. Gold paper that people around here uses to burn on certain Buddhist holidays. They all somehow find themselves tacked into one of her zines.
I think, what she is trying to do, is to ask: What is this? What does it mean? And not just to herself. She’s asking you and me, who come across her zines, or happen to meet her in a random cafe in Dogenzaka or Ueno. She’s asking, not because it doesn’t mean something to her (it DOES, and she will tell you how, in her writing, when her writing accompanies whatever you are looking at) but because there’s always more to it than one person’s take.
I see a leaf, and think: all these organic lines! What a miracle! And you might see a heart shape, meaning love and connection. Both meanings are there. Just as you, me and everyone around us, an object comes from a specific place, and that is tied to its identity. But that’s not all that it can be. What can we be, when we are un-tethered and transmuted from our origins? That’s the question I feel when I look at her work, which I think is an invitation. Invitation to ask questions, to play with meanings.
ここ３０年くらいずっと、なにかを拾って、コピーや写真に撮ったり、切り抜いたり、貼ったり、それを更に写しとったり…ディピカはいつも身の回りの何かを使ってものをつくる。それはカルサマキで見つけた木の葉だったり、ベトナムのファッション雑誌のページ広告だったり、ここらでよくある仏教のなにかの日にみんなが燃やす金箔のついた上だったり、カンボジアのお金だったり。それは僕なんかからみると、表現する人としてどうなの？とか思ったりすることもあるんだけど、彼女に拾われたそれらのものはいつも形を変え続けながら彼女の作品の中から僕らに問いかけてくる。
「これは、なんだろう」「どんな意味があるんだろう」彼女はそれを自分で聞いてみて、答えを見つける（もちろん、彼女のオピニオンだって、ある。彼女自身の注釈がついてたり、それは時にディピカの自分語りとつながってたりも、する。）でもそれだけではなくて、ディピカは作品を通じて、それらのものが直接僕らに同じことを聞いてくることを狙って、それらのものをそこにすっと置いておく。
彼女の作品は招待状のようなものなんだろう、と僕は思う。そこにはどこかで拾われてきた文章とか誰かが言ったセリフやどこかで作られて、その場所に属するイメージの数々、そういうものたちが、「ナンノイミガアル？」と聞いてくる。それはぼくらと同じように、自分の生まれ、育ってきたアイデンティティのようなものを持ちながら、そこから切り離されて存在しているものたち。出生から切り離されてなお残るイミって、なんだろう？それを問いかけ続けるためのスペースが、彼女の作品世界の意味なのかな？と、思ったりもしながら、今日も飽くなく切り貼りしたり、プリントしたものを色のついた厚紙と組み合わせて綴じたりしているディピカを横目でみていたりする。—Akira Morita, 2025
Always good to read your direct, gentle and perceptive thoughts. What you have written… could be pasted in every home, business, on the interior of everyone’s head as a blueprint for broadsiding procrastination. But it’s kind, the way you write, rather than admonishing, and hopeful, and calm. I think that writers will warm to it. “The magic is in the doing.” I like that. But without the inspiration, why bother? You may as well snag turnips. If you can’t find any inspiration in that, you may as well be a writer. You make the case nicely that when you DO, the inspiration may come along for the ride. —C, Publisher & Mentor, 2016
Your cojournaling page is beautiful, and the ideas around journaling as a safe space are really valuable. —J, Cojournaling invitee, 2025
I want you to know that I am impressed by what you do for people. Please continue. Let me know if there’s anything special that is shareable. —D, Artist & Mentor, 2025
You are facilitating the creative process. —K, Cojournaling invitee, 2025
Know you have an eager fan rooting for you !! —A, Cojournaling invitee, 2025
I realize what you’re offering is different and meant to be a meaningful connection around the globe, which is something to truly appreciate… Staying in touch with you has been a bright spot over the years. —E, Cojournaling invitee, 2025
I honestly enjoyed meeting you as well, you are a very kind person and most importantly emotionally mature which is something rare to see in someone these days. —E, S P A C E, 2025
What you do is remarkable. You make magic happen. —R, S P A C E, 2024
It is really fun working with you. —M, S P A C E, 2024
The really wonderful thing about working with Dipika is how deeply engaged she is. From our first meeting, it was apparent how focused she was on absorbing my team’s story and all the little details that made us who we were. Lots of thoughtful questions and some terrific insights – my partners and I learned more about our own team than we thought we knew. I’m very grateful that we met and have stayed in touch all these years.
Dipika’s design process was not just any designer process. It was also an invitation to rethink myself in terms of values and ideas and how I wanted to present myself and be coherent with the branding. It took some effort and still does to live up to the image we created… Dipika has a lot of energy and ideas, and you never know where the conversation with her is going to end up. Which is good! —Fabien Vauthey, Fearless Dinosaur, 2023
You’re asking the right questions. —M, S P A C E, 2023
Dipika provided the ‘Time for Us’ service for my team at Kawsang. Beyond the ordinary team-building activities we used to engage in, Dipika did an outstanding job introducing innovative methodologies that allowed our team to set aside our work roles. She created a safe space in which our team felt comfortable sharing and connecting with one another about our pst experiences, families, and what each of us cares about. Our team now sees each other as more than just colleagues. We understand each other better and have grown in our respect and appreciation for each other even more. —Channé Suy Lan Review at LinkedIn, 2023
Dipika has an incredible way of helping analytical and logical teams (or individuals) tap into their creative sides and think outside the box. Working with one of our teams, she helped us define our marketing plan to include more emotional elements, rather than purely rational ones. Overall, I would highly recommend hiring Dipika if you struggle with accessing creative/emotional ideas or are just generally stuck in mental rut. She is fantastic! —Jay Mebane, Review at LinkedIn, 2023
No; not everyone can get people talking the way you can. That is one of your geniuses. —J, Conversations with The Past, 2023
Saathee Editor Samir Shukla, in a foreward for Kohli’s newest book Kismuth & The Way (Kismuth Books / 2024), writes: ‘Dipika is a fellow North Carolinian, but she is also an explorer, a traveler. She carves out a space of her own wherever she has landed over the past many years. Her current series of articles under the banner “Kismuth and the Way” have logged her thoughts into wonderful essays. Sometimes, concise, short pieces of writing are more difficult to compose than longform pieces. In the short essays, the writer must make a point, or say something worth saying, without obviously poking the reader. Dipika’s writing has that quality… Her conversational style opens doors to continuing stories that feel natural not forced. She recently interviewed me over the phone for a podcast. The conversation was, well, natural, and also helpful in the manner that both learned something, to move the individual work and writing, along with lines of thinking, a few steps forward.’
I am very excited to follow along! I love how you write in a style that invites… readers to be curious. —R, Atelier S P A C E Japan | The Way, 2024
I know better now to cherish deep conversations like the ones we used to have. —E, S P A C E, 2024
新鮮. —M, S P A C E, 2024
Welcome back to the live event game! It’s one of your best games. —MB, S P A C E, 2024
‘Ah, the wonders of the Sharpie. Such a simple instrument, yet so many possibilities, especially in the hands of Dipika Kohli. Kohli has a witty, abbreviated sensibility perfectly in tune with her medium of choice. With it she silhouettes the world, at least the world as seen from one’s own front door, both facing in and facing out.
‘Rooftops, papers on a desk, the corner of an apartment, an array of objects, a spoken phrase, a bunch of flowers—all find bold and punchy expression through Kohli’s simple black marker line drawings. What takes these catchy pictures further than mere amiableness are the kinds of subtle twists most apparent in Kohli’s zines, where she displays a wry sense of her own field and life. Made primarily from cut-up glossy magazine pages, these collage books are both funny and critical, diaristic and transparent. One even shows marker lines atop found images, revealing the source and process of her own style. How this all translates into hired work for her graphic design clients I have no idea, but I suspect it translates just fine—in our world of irony upon irony, self-reflexivity and critical consumerism can now be used to sell everything from iPods to iGO car shares. —Chicago Tribune art critic Lori Waxman (See it in context at 60wrdmin.org, here.)
I cherish the time I got to spend with you. —RS, Atelier S P A C E Japan | The Way, 2024
I’m always impressed by the way you think about things simply and rightly. —KY, Atelier S P A C E Japan | The Way, 2024
I just listened to your TEDx talk, and it was beautiful. —NR, S P A C E, 2024
You are a trailblazer. You always were. I think that’s admirable. —A, S P A C E, 2024
What can I even say… I really enjoyed your energy and how openly you were willing to share it. —C, S P A C E, 2024
I appreciate your candour. —A, S P A C E, 2024
Thanks for all the community you cultivated and artists you supported while you were in Seattle <3 —L, S P A C E, 2024
Beautiful design. —N, S P A C E, 2024
You are an original person. —R, S P A C E, 2024
Thrilled to share that I had the privilege of being featured in the latest issue of S P A C E by Dipika Kohli. In the Q&A titled ‘People Operations,’ I dive into my professional journey, starting from my first ever job to my current role as Country HR Manager at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Dipika’s thoughtful questions led to discussions on recent trends in HR… I highly recommend exploring the entire S P A C E zine series for more intriguing conversations and diverse perspectives. Dipika’s work is truly one-of-a-kind! —Chukwuemeka Chukwu, posted on LinkedIn
What happens when two complete strangers from different backgrounds and walks of life agree to sit and chat over coffee, beyond the usual exchange of views and perspectives? An opportunity for collaboration? Certainly possible, but for a first meet, most implausible and quite improbable. Yet, our conversation evolved into an interest to explore working together on a project of mutual interest. In Dipika Kohli :: Atelier S P A C E’s words, it was ‘An Ecology of the Moment’ – a discovery in the heart of it; S P A C E inquires, S P A C E quests. What followed was a culmination in this candid interview piece entitled “If we don’t know each other”. —Michael Tan, posted on LinkedIn
What you said is beautiful… I hope more people find and read your magazine. —C, S P A C E, 2023
So artistic and creative. —S, Conversations, 2023
This is good work. —F, Identity Design, 2023
You are such a beautiful writer. —D, at Kismuth’s blog, 2023
I find myself thinking of things you said during our talks… I love learning about where you are and how you got there… I read about your search for people who are resilient, although these days it is YOU that inspires me and your resilience to go with the flow in the face of obstacles. —R, Conversations with The Past, 2023
Visionary… and brave-hearted. —B, Conversations with The Past, 2023
I’m glad we had this conversation. —P, The Third Place, 2023
I’m happy to learn you are exploring ways to publish new work. Your writing is extraordinary. —L, Kismuth Books Collaborations, 2022
You’ve got style! —S, Autumn Leaves | Phnom Penh, 2022
I like your facilitation. —F, The Third Place | Phnom Penh, 2022
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it and I’m so happy when talking with you. I got a smile while reading the thank-you letter from my team. Thank you again, Dipika:) —S, Time For Us | Phnom Penh, 2022
Thank you for a great event. See you next time. —P, The Third Place | Phnom Penh, 2022
What you make looks simple, but it’s not simple at all. —KY, Atelier S P A C E | Tokyo, 2021
It’s simple, but very beautiful. —BV, Atelier S P A C E | Ho Chi Minh City, 2020
You are an amazing writer so I’m glad that you’re keeping writing, sharing with so many around the world and inspiring others with your innovative ideas and ways of thinking differently. —D, ‘Expanding Windows’, Dalat, Vietnam, 2020
Thank you for coming to Latvia and trying to get us to talk to each other… I hope you’ll come back next year. —S, Atelier S P A C E | Riga, Latvia, 2019
Thanks for your nicely done S P A C E. I enjoy it every time!!! —IB, Atelier S P A C E | Riga, 2019
Edifying!… You changed the way I think. —SJ, Atelier S P A C E | Hanoi, 2019
I’m still thinking of that conversation from four years ago. That’s why I came to this one. I knew if you were doing it, it was going to be interesting. —GC, S P A C E | Bangkok, ‘Miniparty’, 2019
You’ve definitely helped me to recognize my need for the real in both my work and play. I’m very grateful to you for that. —MD, Atelier S P A C E | Phnom Penh, 2019
I really enjoyed our conversations and am so glad I met you when I did… I loved getting to chat with someone who was so knowledgeable and interesting. —AH, Atelier S P A C E | Riga, 2019
You want people to think. —JE, Atelier S P A C E | Kärsämäki, Finland, 2018
You’re a catalyst for conversations. People might not know where those conversations go, or what new relationships with new people could develop, but you start them. You make the space. You show up. —DM, The Mirror, 2018
You’re one of those rare, genuine and committed individuals who creates unforgettable experiences. —SC, Slow Moment, Virtual, 2018
You stirred something in me that has not moved for a very long time. —PH, Atelier S P A C E | Kärsämäki, Finland, 2018
My mind is, after this conversation, blank. Like, zero. And I mean that in the best possible way. —M, Atelier S P A C E | Phnom Penh, 2017
Astonished… –BH, The Cojournal Project, Virtual, 2017
I love the space you are creating and holding around the world for deep thought and unusual connection. —KA, Kismuth Collaborations, Virtual, 2017
I marvel at all the amazing ideas you come up with — AND bring to life! —SY, Atelier S P A C E | Hanoi, 2017
This reads like a work of philosophy. – J, on Breakfast in Cambodia (Kismuth Books / 2016), Virtual, 2016
I loved [Kanishka], Dipika. You and I are different in many ways. I am not sure we would fully agree on what and where we are. But we are also are the same. I really connected with Kanishka. Life, to me, is also all about connections among all of us, but also connections we make in our mind among events and happenstance, and the things we learn from their resonance. I’ve never had an experience anything like what you had when you lost Jaya, but I could feel it, and how it shaped the way you connect with the world, and how you connect it all in your consciousness. I really, really like your epilogue. Thanks… —former Raleigh News & Observer Editor Eric Frederick on Goodreads review of Kanishka, (Kismuth Books / 2015), 2015
The way the event was organised was well thought through; from the personal invitation, individually crafted official invitations, creative activities which with facilitated conversation beyond the usual ‘who are you?’ and ‘what do you do?’… When we met, it was like we didn’t have a long awkward get-to-know-you phase, it was easy to chat and talk about less usual things. I met many interesting people that night. I now have friendships with people in Phnom Penh from ‘N’, after all a friendship is formed by first talking with someone, and then talking with them again. —SR, ‘N’ | Phnom Penh, 2014
You, for sure, have a way with words. —MT, S P A C E | Palo Alto, 2014
My writerly friends (those who do so publicly and privately), I’ve been participating in Dipika Kohli’s cojournal project since just before the new year (2014). It’s a unique project and it’s pretty special. If you’ve been looking for some structure or accountability in your writing – and supportive community in very small groups, this could be for you. dipika is a compassionate leader and offers some accessible assignments that are helping to shift my writing lens. I love it. —MH, Cojournal Project, Virtual, 2014
I am writing because I wanted to thank you all for sharing ideas and memoirs, I am very much impressed and really enjoyed the workshop [SELF]. I’ve been working on my writing, and finished one short story which I feel so happy after I finished writing it (it’s in Thai.) I’m working on its English version pretty soon and will send to you all for the feedback. Bottom line is, I’m happy to let you know that I’ve somehow overcome my fear of writing, though there’re times when I got stuck with the stories, get distracted, or feel like it’s not good enough – if it was before, I was just going to give up. now, I feel it challenged me and I find writing more enjoyable. Most importantly, I feel like my writing is getting better, too. –JL, SELF, Bangkok, 2014
Refreshingly honest! —O, Origin | Phnom Penh 2014
I look forward greatly to reading anything by this Kamal di punjabi kurri. Please support her extraordinary journey through life and be rewarded!! —Poonam Singh, Preetlarhi Magazine, Chandigarh 2013
Dipika is a[n] author who clearly has been writing for years. Her ability to illustrate a particular moment, object, or emotion is amazing. Her writing style is different than what I am accustomed to reading. It’s almost poetic. As the reader you can expect to gain insight into the mind, heart and soul of a Woman who lives life passionately and purposely. Also, Dipika does a nice job at outlining the good and not so pretty reality of what it means to defy cultural norms.—Anonymous, on The Elopement, Review at Amazon, 2012
Somehow, Dipika folds you into her head and her world with ease, even in the most difficult of situations. Anyone who has ever judged another person in the throes of a difficult situation should read this book. She reminds us all of our humanity, and how easy it is to underestimate another’s pain with a beautiful description of a complicated time. Wonderful writing, vivid scene setting of the place. I was strapped in once the pregnancy began and barely came up for air.’ —Anne, a Kindle review on The Dive (Kismuth Books / 2012)
What comes through the most is the personality of the author and truly feeling her perspective as she goes through this collage of beautiful and heartwarming(-breaking) incidents. The somewhat conversational style and the painterly touches of language really enrich what is already a non-traditional story of this type. The artistry of the language is matched only by the truthfulness to the emotional journey the author has been through. If you’re a fan of good travel writing, poetic prose, and personal essays/memoir of the type where the aesthetics of a scene are just as important as its recitation of events and their details, then you’ll love this book. Like me you’ll find yourself wishing to visit Ireland, India, and Japan all at once, if only to see your familiar spaces in a new light when you return home. I’m really looking forward to the next one! —Tim S., on a Kindle review of The Elopement (Kismuth Books /2012)
And while it might be possible to create one’s own destiny, the lesson we can learn from this book is that it is folly to try to create someone else’s.’ —Kate Allison, The Displaced Nation. Read the full review of The Elopement, 2012
Meaning is not manufactured. It is experienced. Dipika Kohli has lived these words. —Aaron Mandel, Clarion Content. Read the full review of The Elopement, 2012
I think [design thinking] is a valuable skill for anyone to have because the process is about creating innovative solutions… Hearing and then seeing the work of someone who does this every day was an incredible opportunity… Curiosity is encouraged! —Student at Dipika Kohli’s seminar on Design Thinking at UNC-Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill NC, 2011