Artwork Description:
I knew nothing about the history of indigo. The curatorial theme of the residency “Majhi International Art Residency 2023” in Paris brought me into contact with its history for the first time. It changed my perception of the colour indigo into something different.
I chose as my material a textile of my own design, inspired by the oldest Japanese dyed fabric of the 8th century. I extract only the indigo colours (black and blue) from the textile and embroider them. It is as if I have gouged out something that has been covered and obscured by the surface.
As no one has solved this historical problem, I still need to figure out what to embroider in my work. While reading about the history of indigo, I came across this sentence: “In Bangladesh, the cultivation of indigo remains ‘taboo’, and the sites of old indigo production (Nilkuthis) are often thought to be haunted.”*
The embroidery stitched with the extracted indigo threads will probably be ghostly.
*https://www.theindigogiant.com/about
About the fabric:
The fabric refers to Stand cover (kyokechi-dyed fabric) in the 8th century in Japan and contemporary symbols are sprinkled over the traditional fabric as a part of flowers. The contemporary symbols that are surrounding us in the society are quoted from copyright mark, @ mark, nuclear symbol, bio mark, peace mark, credit card company symbols, gene image, irradiated mark, placenta image, womb image, biohazard mark and etc.
Created during Majhi International Art Residency 2023 organized by Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF)