Latest update on the Project:
On April 24th 2025, Kamini and I were sitting inside King's College London planning our next trip to Kashmir (I was due to travel to India on 25th April. I would fly to Mumbai first to get the photographs printed on cloth. From there I would fly to Srinagar, Kashmir on 29th April and meet Kamini there itself. We then planned to work for the next 15 days with the artisans to start working on the printed cloth pieces with embroidery.) I left after my meeting with Kamini, very hopeful about our project finishing on time. As soon as I sat in the train to return home, I opened news on my phone and saw there had been a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir. 26 tourists were killed in plain sight by gunmen (India suggests they were terrorists supported by Pakistan). Hell broke.
Kamini and I immediately had a chat and decided that even though we are aware that this attack could lead to massive kinetic escalation between India and Pakistan and Kashmir could become the playground for a full fledged war, we will continue to work towards completing this project. So I went to India and then to Srinagar as per our planned dates.
Kamini was already waiting for me in Srinagar as she had landed a day prior. Together, we went to meet the artisans at Shehjar
The atmosphere in Srinagar (despite it being peak tourist season) was eerie. There was absolute silence on the streets. Tourists had all fled Kashmir. Hotel bookings were all canceled. Our hotel was empty except for the two of us. There were whispers all around that the airspace will soon be shut and airstrikes will be initiated. We saw sukhois landing in Srinagar when we reached the airport. Rafaels had already arrives as we found out through news. The atmosphere was like a pressure cooker ready to blow up anytime. Everyone around us was asking us to leave. We still stuck around and showed the artisans the printed photos and started discussing the designs with them. They explained to us what they would like to create. Some of the artworks as a result we realised needed re-printing because the placement of the testimonies on them did not work with the vision of the artisans. That's the nature of art... it evolves and theres a lot of trial and error. So that meant I needed to head back to Mumbai for re-printing and return again with fresh prints as UV flatbed printing was not available in Kashmir.
But I could never return. Kamini and I left Srinagar on 2nd May 2025. On 7th May war broke between both nations. Kashmir was closed. I called up Assma from Shehjar (the centre run by Help Foundation where the artisans work) to ask how the situation was and if she could hear the drone attacks? She said "Yes, the sounds of drones are loud and clear but don't worry. We are all working. We are fine."
Those words just made Kamini and me realise how important it is for us to give life to this project. Work and workplace is not just a physically sanctuary it is also and emotional armour. Even in times of extreme trauma, fear and uncertainty, belonging to a physical workspace almost shields the artisans from even the thought of harm.
We plan to return again soon as our funding pool has run out now and we are working on figuring more funding but the work will likely restart on this project by the end of the year. I will keep updating this page.
OLD UPDATES:
Ecstatic beyond words to share the news that Dr. Kamini Gupta @kaminig and I have secured the @culturalkings "Sanctuary Season Creative Collaboration Seed Fund" to translate Dr. Kamini’s research on the role of workplace for the Embroidery Women Artisans in Kashmir into a lens-based interdisciplinary work.
Ever since Kamini and I have reached Srinagar we have initiated our ethnographic research, focusing on the cultural, personal and societal epistemologies of the region.
This project is a collaborative effort driven by shared passion of the Kashmiri Embroidery artisans, Kamini and myself.
The discourse surrounding conflict in Kashmir has casually unarchived the impact on and the role of women, instead being predominantly male-centric.
This work will sit at the intersection of culture, arts and gender identities that may have its foundation in the Kashmir context but will hopefully resonate with a wider global audience.
Thank you so much once again to @culturalkings for their support.
PS: what you see here in the images is only a proof-of-form artwork that I have made and not the final works.
Ever since Kamini and I have reached Srinagar we have initiated our ethnographic research, focusing on the cultural, personal and societal epistemologies of the region.
This project is a collaborative effort driven by shared passion of the Kashmiri Embroidery artisans, Kamini and myself.
The discourse surrounding conflict in Kashmir has casually unarchived the impact on and the role of women, instead being predominantly male-centric.
This work will sit at the intersection of culture, arts and gender identities that may have its foundation in the Kashmir context but will hopefully resonate with a wider global audience.
Thank you so much once again to @culturalkings for their support.
PS: what you see here in the images is only a proof-of-form artwork that I have made and not the final works.
A Brief Note from my first trip to Kashmir in November 2024 with Kamini for this project. I will be returning in April 2025 again:
Past few weeks spent in Srinagar have been complex. A city moving in parts despite its deep scarring.
How do you undo generations of silencing? Fuzzy, forgotten, suppressed memories… reconstructed at times through forced imagination. Some gaps you realise in your story only when someone asks a question. A question that hasn’t been ever asked before.
@kaminig Kamini and I often played the fine act of being present and yet absent… just so the narrator could speak freely with the comfort that the room perhaps is wholly empty.
Trust despite a history of abandonment is easy currency in Kashmir. So is love.
We made progress we hope. To become one with the story and yet remain truthfully outside of it.
But try as I may, I couldn’t help myself from becoming a little bit of Kashmiri myself. The endless cups of Kahva and haak-paneer, doon chetin and nadru yakni… tea and food seem to be a radical solution to all problems in my life now.
I’ve developed bonds. I’ve found places, songs, birds, clothes, colours, smells, sounds… even silences in Kashmir that are a reflection of me.
Thank you so much @kaminig for choosing me to collaborate with you on this important project. Thanks a lot @shehjar97 Assma for being the most generous and extraordinary human and thanks so much to all our women artisan collaborators. We have a long way to go from here together but the start has been nothing short of exceptional.
See you soon.
Also find below some images from our time making the work.
