Sohni — Heera, 2023

For Platform 2023, I presented Sohni — Heera, a multi-media installation delving into two South Asian female archetypes: the courageous heroine Sohni from the Seven Queens of Sindh folk stories, and the entertainer and Mughal-era courtesan, the Tawaif.

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Through sculpture, screen print, painting, and textiles, I represented the dual female figures of heroine versus courtesan within South Asian popular culture, mirroring my own experience of dual identity. In this way, I explore the perception of women as vessels for cultural morality, and how these archetypes have been shaped and complicated by British colonialism.