DIDIHOOD ~ Issue 60

Happy February Didis!

Hoping everyone is staying warm this season. We know we are due for another social and stay tuned, we are hoping we have our next get-together in Toronto very soon!

Meet the Didi:
This month's Meet the Didi is visual artist Angela Aujla.

Tell us about your journey into becoming a visual artist. Have you always been a creative person?
As long as I remember, I’ve been delighted with art – looking at it, making it, doing arts and crafts, but I didn’t initially pursue it as a career as it wasn’t really considered a practical thing to do. I definitely regret buying into that line of thinking. I studied Sociology and Cultural Anthropology instead – which I also love and which informs my art practice today. I only started doing art in a professional way in 2015, and I’ve been trying to develop my abilities and scope, and make up for lost time ever since.

A lot of your art focuses on South Asian Canadian history and stories. Where does this inspiration come from?
That inspiration comes from my personal and family history, as well as my academic studies. My great-grandparents as well as my grandparents on my mother’s side came to Canada quite early on, my great-grandfather being among the first South Asians in Canada before 1910, with my great-grandmother coming a couple of decades later after the immigration ban against women was finally lifted after concerted efforts of the South Asian community in Canada. The inspiration also comes from my graduate work in South Asian studies. The subject of my Masters dissertation was an analysis of diasporic identity as it emerged from multigenerational South Asian women’s literature. I currently teach Cultural Anthropology, Gender Studies and Race and Ethnicity in my role as a professor.

How has the arts scene in Canada evolved for South Asian artists?
For a long time, the arts scene was not particularly inclusive and it was difficult for BIPOC artists, particularly BIPOC women to feel a sense of belonging and recognition in the mainstream arts scene. Galleries and museums have undergone considerable critique by historically excluded groups and I think that is really starting to show in their increased dedication to question systemic barriers and bias in the field. My contemporaries like Jag Nagra, Rupy C. Tut and Sandeep Johal come to mind as artists who have really pushed back at hegemonic narratives with the strength of their artwork and storytelling.

What has your experience as a South Asian woman in the arts been like?
What I love most, and something that I didn’t expect when starting out was the amazing community of other South Asian cultural producers, storytellers, patrons, and supporters that I was able to connect with primarily through social media, but also in real life. The support of the community has been absolutely wonderful and I’m thankful to be connected to so many South Asian creatives across the globe through social media.

Can you tell us about your upcoming solo exhibit, My Grandmother's Dress?
This was inspired by my Nahni’s actual dress, which she sewed and wore in the 1950s in British Columbia. At the time, Punjabi immigrants seldom if ever wore Punjabi clothing in public. They felt the pressure to assimilate to Western clothing in an attempt to fit in, and avoid further racial discrimination. But I think many of them also found the clothing intriguing and enjoyed the fashions at the same time. In this exhibit, I tell the story of early diasporic Punjabi women in Canada – the ways in which they tried to maintain, remake, and transmit cultural practices in the shadow of racial hostility, and patriarchal traditions. It’s a mixed media exhibit in which I’ve created various new works including collages and works on paper, as well as a series of installation pieces in order to disrupt colonial narratives and reanimate the lives of those excluded from dominant histories.

What advice would you give to younger Didis who want to pursue a career in the arts?
My advice is to keep persisting despite the inevitable discouragement or judgment you might receive from family or friends. But at the same time, I would suggest doing your research about the arts world – talk to other artists and curators about what they do, how they started out. Follow artists and galleries on social media, don’t feel afraid to reach out to them with your questions. Go to as many exhibits as you can, check out the public art in your area or places you travel to. Also, there is often great support found in local artist communities – make those connections.

What we're reading:

Mindy Kaling's South Asian representation has viewers deeply divided. This says a lot.

Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History — A Review of Sundance’s ‘Polite Society’

— Arti Patel

Issue 60
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