Religion is NOT THE Culture

Category: Apparel

Since the 1980s, India has had a growing number of people who believe that Hinduism is the only faith that can exist in India. At the present time, this has accelerated, and this new wave of Hinduism called Hindutva calls for a multi- ethnic country to form only one homogenous culture. Spiritual devotion varies across different cultures in India. Hindutva's form of spirituality is rooted in Hindu supremacism, and anything different is seen as foreign. I am using the craft of weaving and fraying to protest against this movement. The symbolism of the fraying represents the emotions of anger and frustration at how the culture in India is slowly becoming more conservative than before. During colonial India, handwoven fabric was used to protest the British's mass-produced fabric. I focus on reducing reliance on industrial processes and embracing material honesty. My methods are intentionally slow and labor-intensive while remaining accessible to the audience, allowing them to play around with second-hand fabric strips that can be woven into a new garment in different ways. Hand-based processes allow me to remain in direct contact with the material, responding intuitively to its behavior rather than forcing it into predetermined outcomes. This way of working resists the speed and uniformity of mass production, instead valuing irregularity, imperfection, and time. My YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-6BivF_RCw