Queer Kinships and South Asian Migrations

During the pandemic when opportunities to talk with other artists in public forums was rather low, I was invited to have an online discussion with Rajiv Mohabir, a poet and Kareem Khubchandani, an academic on the subject of Queer Kinships and South Asian Migrations as explored through our respective work. The virtual event was hosted by Tufts University. You can find a recording of the conversation here.

Rajiv is the author of multiple poetry and chapbooks including The Taxidermist’s Cut, a finalist for the 2017 Lambda Literary Award in Gay Poetry. Kareem is the Mellon Bridge Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Drama & Dance and the Program in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Tufts University teaching at the intersection of performance studies and queer studies.

CSAC Artist Residency Award

I am delighted to have been selected as the first-ever 2020 Artist-in-Residence at the Centre for South Asian Civilizations (CSAC) at the University of Toronto Mississuaga (UTM).

The CSAC artist-in-residence provides funding to a contemporary artist for the winter semester (February-April) to develop site-responsive and site-specific work in any format on campus. The purpose of the residency is to disrupt existing forms of on-campus engagement through the use of contemporary art.

Over the next several weeks, come visit and participate as we hand-wash clothes, prompting discussion of the role and lifecycle of clothing and it’s care in the care of self and others around the world while taking into consideration the role of class, caste, gender, colonialism, capitalism, religious nationalism, and the environment.

I look forward to using contemporary art to disrupt the campus environment and generate body-based activity and critical conversation. Our collective survival depends on it.

As the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted my planned on-campus activities, I had to change my proposed project to a stay-at-home residency. I am still interested in the initial themes, however my methods of investigation and creation have changed. While the residency has officially ended, I continue to work on this project that I have titled Unskilled. You can read about the updated project and its progress here.

CAA Podcast with Arti Sandhu

Arti Sandhu is an Associate Professor in fashion design in the College of DAAP, at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA and is the author of Indian Fashion: Tradition, Innovation, and Style. Arti invited me to have a conversation with her for the College Art Association Podcast series. In “Politics, Privilege, and Craft in Indian Fashion” we spoke about art, design, fashion, and craft in India and the diaspora along side Kashmir, saris, and the limits of mainstream fashion. Have a listen.

Inter/Access SAVAC Bursary Award

InterAccess, a new media and technology gallery and production studio in Toronto has awarded me an InterAccess Bursary Program through it’s organizational partnership with SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre). The bursary offers me a one-year studio membership to learn about, explore, and use interesting equipment such as 3D printers and a laser engraver. I will be using my time there to explore wearable technology. InterAccess has a wonderful ongoing program of workshops for artists. Have a look.

Thank you InterAccess and SAVAC!