Unbearable Memories, Unspeakable Histories: Partition Anti-Memorial Project

Fri Dec 02 2022 at 11:00 am to 06:00 pm

South Asia Institute | Chicago

South Asia Institute
Publisher/HostSouth Asia Institute
Unbearable Memories, Unspeakable Histories: Partition Anti-Memorial Project
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Through experiential art installations “Unbearable Memories, Unspeakable Histories” investigates the Partition of India in 1947.
About this Event

Free Admission Every Friday! Use code: CommunitySAI at checkout to claim! #CommunityFridays

This year marks 75 years since the Partition of India in 1947, which created Pakistan, and eventually, Bangladesh in 1971. Pritika Chowdhry’s experiential art installations are temporary 'anti-memorials' to the Partition.

Often described as the Holocaust of South Asia, the Partition triggered the largest migration in human history with over 20 million people displaced, approximately 2 million killed and over 300,000 women were abducted in the communal violence that ensued.

The exhibition addresses the many facets of the Partition from a counter-memory perspective through experiential art installations. The title alludes to the painful and silenced narratives that have been elided from mainstream discourses of the Partition.

When a memory is unbearable, how does one memorialize it? And when a history is unspeakable, how does one talk about it? The exhibition’s title, “Unbearable Memories, Unspeakable Histories” alludes to the painful and silenced narratives that have been excluded from mainstream discourses of the Partition.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Pritika Chowdhry is a sociopolitical, feminist, interdisciplinary artist, who creates large-scale sculptures and site-sensitive installations that reference the body to memorialize unbearable memories. Having personally witnessed the intergenerational effects of geopolitical trauma, she has dedicated her work to cataloging the violence of colonialism/imperialism alongside global acts of resistance. 

Since 2007, she has built her oeuvre through the Partition Anti-Memorial Project, a research-based project that excavates subjugated knowledge about the 1947 Partition of India and the 1972 Bangladesh Independence War to build several anti-memorials

SPECIAL PROGRAMMING

FREEDOM FESTIVAL: A two day celebration of South Asian Art, Music, Dance and Culture!

Aug 13-14: 1pm-6pm | FREE OUTDOOR EVENT - REGISTRATION REQUIRED

ARTIST LED TOURS / Saturday / / Oct 29 | Nov 12 | Dec 10

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

South Asia Institute, 1925 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, United States

Tickets

USD 0.00 to USD 10.00

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