ਦਸਤਾਰ ਬੰਨ੍ਹਣ ਲਈ ਬਲੂਪ੍ਰਿੰਟ (blueprints for tying a dastaar)

Playing with material memory and embodied knowledge, ਦਸਤਾਰ ਬੰਨ੍ਹਣ ਲਈ ਬਲੂਪ੍ਰਿੰਟ (blueprints for tying a dastaar), marks traces of the everyday ritual of dastaar (turban) tying through a cyanotype process. Soaked in photosensitive chemicals, tied and then worn, the dark blue hue demarcates areas of the textile touched by the sun, while the lighter areas are those that remained hidden in the folds. Unravelled and displayed as a blueprint of the process of tying, the dastaar fabric retains an imprint of how it was worn. She considers ways in which the turban has become the dominant signifier for diasporic Sikhs, who, in the face of oppressive governmental and societal suspicion, have sought to uphold with pride the dastaar as that which distinguishes them from others. As such, her work speaks to the limitations of photography as a form that claims to capture reality, and celebrates the embodied knowledge of the dastaar-wearer that is deposited in the fabric.