Touching on Caste: Shivani Patel, Aaliah Qureshi & Godhadi
June 21 - July 27 2024
First launch: June 20, 6 - 8pm
Free & open to all
Touching on Caste convenes three parallel anti-caste artistic research journeys from practitioners of the South Asian diaspora: Shivani Patel, Aaliah Qureshi & Godhadi. Following a period of research and development, the project presents a series of ‘spotlight shows’ alongside a cumulative anti-caste resource space.
For the duration of the programme, the gallery will perform two functions: consecutively showcasing the work of each artist / artist collective and providing a space for reading and noticing. With the difficult histories of caste in the Subcontinent and global South Asian diaspora as well as the ongoing brutalities in Palestine, the programme seeks to provide different kinds of resources for both contexts. The hope is that these, in turn, will also better support the complexities for the accompanying works.
Shivani Patel: Reclaim and Re-imagine 21 - 29 June
Launch Thursday 20 June, 6-8pm
Aaliah Qureshi: Dust to Dust 11 -13 July
Poetry reading & samosas: 13 July, 6-8pm
Godhadi: within dalit spores 18 - 27 July
Performance & conversation, 20 July
Shivani Patel’s practice explores the intricate layers of cultural heritage, diaspora and the complexities of dual identity. Her photography embeds self-portraiture, storytelling, semiotics and still life, incorporating tangible materials through textiles and sculptures. Shivani’s practice seeks to cultivate a heightened awareness and nuanced understanding of South Asian beliefs within the context of Western environments, striving to bridge cultural divides and foster connection.
Aaliah Qureshi is a multidisciplinary artist who explores the dichotomous nature of her identity as a British Pakistani Muslim. Through the implementation of storytelling, she finds a balance between her culture and religious beliefs. Aaliah utilises photography as a central medium, whilst incorporating poetry and sound, as well as tangible elements, such as objects and fabric, in order to further explore her lineage, familial relationships and Islamic philosophies. She aims to create work that both represents and resonates with fellow Muslims.
Godhadi is an inter-generational collective hosted by Abhaya Rajani, a London-based dalit queer feminist artist along with the India-based artists, Rajani Kadam, the late Satyawati Kadam, and the late Sugandha Kadam. Through dalit lineage and our work which was considered womanly duties, we are dreaming to reimagine our labour in a contemporary art context. We are invested in constructing spaces through our collective transdisciplinary practices of making, cooking and performing to resist centuries-old oppressive injustices of Brahminical patriarchy.
