ShongRokkhon: Reimagined Threads, 2024

Michael O’Brian Exhibition Commons, Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

This installation examines the ways in which communal textile art practices are transformed by migration and lack of resources. The textile installation work delves into the reimagining of traditional tools by utilizing locally available materials to create non-traditional tools that still produce similar marks, symbols, and patterns on textile. Through techniques like beading, dyeing, and block stamping on worn fabric, it investigates how traditional Bangladeshi textile methods are adapted when faced with limited material and resources. By using preloved fabric worn by elders as a foundation, the addition of beads and stitching radiates care and significance to each of the pieces. The textiles adorn the white gallery walls, occasionally interrupted by vibrant painted patterns. The visual imagery on each of the textiles encapsulates memory of land both near and afar and refer to the embodied experience of a migrant. Textile practice being a communal craft in South Asian cultures becomes a solitary practice due to migration. This installation examines and explores the different outcomes produced as a result of absence of social support, displacement and lack of cultural touchstones. Moreover, it explains the ways in which engaging in traditional and ritualistic textile practices contributes to developing a sense of belonging in the context of migration.