Phéran Explorations

Phéran Explorations examines the exodus and displacement of the Kashmiri Pandit community from Jammu and Kashmir, India, in the early 1990s. This project is a contemplation on personal history and the lived experiences of loss of homeland, identity, traditions, literature, and language.

The series consists of six hand-constructed paper phérans inspired by the traditional Kashmiri garment. The phéran is a loose, long robe worn by people of all ages, genders, and social backgrounds in Kashmir. Deeply embedded in everyday life, it provides protection from the harsh winter climate and serves multiple functions. Within its folds, one may carry a kangri—a small earthen pot filled with burning embers for warmth—or shelter a child from the cold. The phéran is both a practical garment and an enduring symbol of Kashmiri culture.

Through Phéran Explorations, I examine how clothing becomes an embodiment of life and a carrier of cultural memory. Constructed from Japanese mulberry paper, these fragile paper phérans tell the stories of a culture at risk of erasure. The informed choice of paper is to reflect upon the fragility of culture. These paper garments become containers of stories and culture, bearing narratives that I have heard, witnessed, inherited, and collected through personal experience and community memory.

In this project, I experiment with watercolour, gouache, acrylic, pencil, ink, printmaking, stencils, paper cutting, stamps, hand stitching, and embroidery. Recurring elements include the concepts of time and space, satellite studies of geographical locations, the Sharada script, spoken language, cultural objects, Kashmiri shawls and textiles, the lost temples of Kashmir, and observations from daily life.

Applications such as Google Earth and Google Maps facilitate the study of places that are physically inaccessible from my current location in Canada, allowing memory, geography, and lived experience to intersect.

Traditional processes such as hand stitching, Kashmiri tea ink, and embroidery are layered with contemporary technologies, satellite imagery, cyanotype printing, linocut printing, and painting. Through these layered processes, I bring together traditional knowledge and contemporary ways of seeing and recording places.