Quishile and Esha at The 13th Gwangju Biennale (South Korea)
The 13th Gwangju Biennale - Minds Rising Spirits Tuning
The 13th Gwangju Biennale features a dynamic program encompassing an exhibition, a performance program, an online publishing platform and publications, and a series of public forums bringing together artists, theoretical scientists, and systems thinkers.
Quishile Charan’s textile works were on display discussing the resistance histories of Girmitiya women. Hand-made textiles highlighted key moments around the 1920 labour strike in Suva, Fiji (see SEVENTH Gallery Exhibition). In addition, to grieve among the sugarcane fields (2018), an 11.4m long textile banner was also displayed alongside the other textile works, which is the reclamation of archival imagery of Girmitiya women. This textile cherishes Girmitiyas resistance through a textile landscape that seeks to honour them and shatter the historical silence that has been placed onto Girmitiya women and their histories.
Alongside the textile works, the Bad Fiji Gyals produced a podcast episode to discuss their research into the role of women in the 1920 labour strike and why this pivotal resistance history has been denied to Girmitiya women and their descendants for so long.