Finding belonging in the nation beneath the nation

(Sanctuary is a practice series)
(based on the research of Vivek Bald and conversation with Barnali Ghosh & Anirvan Chatterjee of the Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour)
paper sculpture from recycled papers including tar paper, metallic papers, and cardboard, and chikankari embroidered fabric
sculpture: 19″ x 6″ x 3.5″  // print: 68″ x 47.25″
2018

South Asian immigrants have a long history within the U.S., many of the earliest generations of men coming as entrepreneurial textile traders, sailors, and farmworkers. Unlike some other immigrant groups who were pushed into distinct enclaves through violence and the need for protection, South Asians often confounded the racial codes of the era, creating their homes integrated within other communities of color, particularly African American and Puerto Rican neighborhoods. As these early immigrants carved out lives for themselves in places like Harlem and New Orleans, they often married women from these communities, creating a kind of quiet sanctuary for themselves even as intense anti-Asian policies raged around them and were challenged by more visible members of the community.

One of the key goods imported by early merchants was intricately embroidered chikankari fabric from Lucknow. The fabric is joined here with a simplified version of the famous Tree of Hope stump from Harlem and a figa de azabache amulet.

Sanctuary is a Practice is a series of objects that explore the histories of communities who have had to self-organize or create alliances with other groups to build their own sanctuaries, systems of mutual aid, and resilient cultures in the face of injustice and xenophobia. These pieces take the form of imagined talismans that invoke a sense of protection and resistance to adverse forces by combining cultural references and archival materials to tell a story about the practice of collective survival.

The series was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission – Public Art Program‘s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series (a project co-funded by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency). The artists selected for 2018 were asked to create work exploring the theme of “sanctuary” and San Francisco’s role as a Sanctuary City.

sculpture photograph by Kija Lucas, street installation photos by WT