Masked Narratives: Manifestations of a Disaster

Abstract

Cloth has been a part of our lives for millennia, as second skin. In our climate controlled human-made environments clothes are also donned as symbolic protection and as engagement with other humans. As a symbol, cloth tells stories of who we are and what we have experienced. Disasters engender change and give birth to new expressions. We have seen the Kutch embroiderers create narrative tapestries on cloth of the aftermath of the earthquake well after the it was over. Unlike other disasters the corona pandemic has not ended. How does one narrate something that has not ended? The face mask of the pandemic may have stories to tell in the future. The mask has made the journey from a medical functional protection to a symbolic engagement and narrative canvas in a matter of months. The cloth mask can be washed and worn like our clothes which makes the wearing of it feel “normal” to become a part of our “everyday.” Adapting to the new “norm,” craftspeople have come to treat the mask as a new canvas on which to portray their art using motifs and elements from their existing visual narratives. Masked Narratives is an attempt to look at the cloth mask and the meanings that it constructs and reveals.

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