The Sartorial Is Political in "The New York Sari"

"I knew going into working on this show that there was no singular story of the sari, and that there were particular things that a diaspora experience brings out of the garment. That self-awareness frames the exhibition not as an airtight artifact but as a site of living, breathing contemplation."

"There is always a battle for self-definition within any diaspora. In my experience, there's a lot of asking, 'Who are we to the outside world and to each other?' It's important to allow the full richness of that conversation to come through in a history exhibition."

"Suchitra Mattai's 'she arose (from a pool of tears)' (2024), a Bharatnatyam dancer made from used and loved saris, greets visitors at the entrance. The small but mighty show serves as a primer on South Asian history in New York, framed conceptually and visually through the sari in all its infinite pleats, drapes, and patterns."

The New York Historical presents an exhibition exploring the sari as a multifaceted cultural artifact through South Asian history in New York. The curated show features artistic installations, including a Bharatnatyam dancer sculpture made from used saris, accompanied by music from South Asian and African American artists. Co-curators Salonee Bhaman and Anna Danzinger Halperin deliberately avoided presenting a singular narrative, recognizing the complexity of the garment and diaspora experience. Bhaman, a scholar of social movements and Asian American feminist, emphasizes that the sari carries personal, political, and communal significance. The exhibition frames the sari as a site for ongoing contemplation rather than a fixed historical artifact, allowing multiple perspectives on identity, belonging, and self-definition within diaspora communities.

Read at Hyperallergic