Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
During this AAPI Heritage Month we present Other Imaginings, an artists book made of hand-spun and woven Khadi cloth, with images woven, silkscreened, and relief printed by Indian artisans at Sri Gandhi Ashram in Akbarpur, the Chinmoyee Kala Niketan in Varanasi and Rudraksh in Jaipur. The images were curated and the project coordinated by American visual artist Aaron Sinift in collaboration with his Indian colleagues Kahkashan Khan and Jitendra Kumar. The book was produced in the state of Uttar Pradesh by 5YearPlan.org in 2016 in a limited edition of 100 copies.
The project explores universal aspects of Gandhian visual culture in discourse with contemporary international artists and new ashram artist commissions. Sinift writes:
This book is a seva (service) in honor of Mohandas Gandhi (1892-1948) and inspired by the khadi cloth he wore and propagated throughout India. Gandhij sae khadi as a swadeshi (locally produced & used)fabric to clothe a free and independent India. . . . OTHER IMAGININGS is an attempt to introduce Gandhiji’s counter-industrial vision of village self-sufficiency. . . . This book in an artifact (art & fact) of a living tradition of service that continues into the present day, and is curated as a mix of deshi & videshi (local + foreign), Gandhi ashram & contemporary art. We hope you will take the time to consider the qualities of this home-spun khadi . . . and linger on its fragrance and tactile qualities as evidence of the hundreds of hands contributing to its creation. . . .
The book includes images designed by several non-Indian artists, such as Judith Linhares, Dorothy Iannone, Jenny Holzer, Philip Taaffe, Duncan Tonatiuh Smith, and Yoko Ono. Except for the cover, we are only showing the pages designed by Indian artists here. Click on the images for attributions.