Collaborative Projects

OWNING MY BROWN BODY

Owning My Brown Body is a multimedia project that aims to subvert the traditional use of mendhi, to write messages and questions on our bare bodies as a way of reclaiming them. It looks at how, even miles away, the conservative and silencing treatment of women has seeped into Indian-American and Middle-Eastern-American cultures and how it has impacted our daily lives. Growing up first generation Indian or as an Indian-Middle Eastern immigrant to America often creates two separate dialogues about what being a woman constitutes versus CAN constitute. In this project we want to use words and symbols that normalize female silence, marital rape, and domestic violence to bring to light that brown women can be empowered and break free from the cultural shackles that keep us feeling guilty or shameful if we try to own ourselves.

To see more on this project visit our instagram page @owningmybrownbody.

This project was made in collaboration with Zainab Ahmed.
Check out Zainab’s work at zainabahmed.com.