Kashmir // Cashmeer
Reclaiming Kashmiri weaving traditions through engaged scholarship and cultural critique.
Funded by RISD Research, UNESCO Creative City Network, and the Government of India, this journal explores the Lucy Truman Aldrich collection at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design to problematize and reframe colonial systems of knowledge acquisition and transmission as they pertain to craft communities.
kashmir // cashmeer has several material manifestations—from a 200-page journal to a gallery exhibition at the RISD Museum’s Aldrich Galleries.
Each explores basic stylistic features, production techniques, material properties, and historical and cultural traditions of weaving in the Kashmir Valley through post-colonial theory and engaged scholarship practices.
“The Journey of the Jamawar” was exhibited at the Asian Art Galleries of the RISD Museum’s Aldrich Wing from January — September, 2022. The full exhibition catalogue can be found in Issue 1 of desi-gned.
“This opportunity to extend research, knowledge, and experiential learning while supporting the museum’s mission to open access and diversify interpretation of items in its collections to include those not traditionally invited in will no doubt bear fruit for many years to come and on many levels.”
— Kate Irvin
Curator of Costumes and Textiles, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
“In researching the museum’s collection, I realized the need for a greater understanding of the material processes that go into the creation of these shawls. From the grazing of the endangered Changpatani goats whose hair is used to spin the yarn to the dyeing of the yarn to the weaving of the shawls on old pine looms. The labor that goes into such masterful creations, and the people who carry it out, are often overlooked.”
kashmir // cashmeer critiques indigenous knowledge systems extrapolated into Western knowledge systems and heavily anglicized during the colonial project.
kashmir // cashmeer increases access to indigenous knowledge by bringing native terminology, community voices, and the importance of embodied knowledge to the forefront of contemporary discourse.
kashmir // cashmeer dismantles the neutrality of the colonial space of the museum through engaged scholarship guided by communities often silenced in such spaces.
Kashmir // Cashmeer, 2022
Personal Project for RISD, 100 weeks
Research, writing, book design, exhibition curation
Advised by Kate Irvin and Soul Brown
Students Yukti Agarwal and Gina Vestuti Promote Social Equity
Images by Courtesy of RISD Museum, V&A Museum, MET Museum