Work 1:
Sohaila Baluch, ‘We are here because you went there’, damask curtains, thread and human hair, date 2021 – ongoing. A durational performance will accompany this artwork on Saturday 3 and 10 February, from 12 pm to 5 pm.
Work 2:
Sohaila Baluch, Made In England, moving image – looped, duration approx. 4 mins, 2024
These two works offer distinct yet interconnected explorations of the ongoing consequences and complexities of colonial legacies. They assert the need for acknowledging and rectifying historical injustices responsible for prevailing systemic and societal imbalances by drawing from embodied female diasporic lived experiences. Both works employ strategies of direct address to confront the ‘tropes’ and stereotypes imposed on British South Asian women. These pieces navigate complex notions of home, belonging, double consciousness and identity within this diasporic community, offering nuanced insights into their material realities and challenging their (in)visibility in diverse contexts.