Curated and put together by writer and graphic artist Parismita Singh, 21 women writers and artists come together in this stunning collection that combines words and pictures to explore the theme of work. Whether it's brewing beer, or hawking everyday goods, or weaving fabrics and fairytales, women from Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and the Chittagong Hill Tracts bring us a feast of words and pictures that showcase the region known as the 'Northeast' with nuance, complexity and humour.
This book brings you a wealth of stories, in words and images, from a part of India known as the Northeast, a term that is widely contest for the ways in which it homogenizes a region of great diversity. It is also a term that has come to be a marker of identity and solidarity by many who are of the region. Here, 21 writers and artists look at the idea of ‘work’ — from street hawking to beer brewing, from mothering to dung collection — and describe their lives or those of others with humour and compassion. Parismita Singh’s wonderful compilation of the works of women asks: what are the different ways of telling a story? What if we were to attempt these tellings through poetry and portraits and essays, older traditions like textile art and applique and new genres like hashtag poetry tapped into a smartphone? Where would it take us, what would the world look like?
My contribution is a photo essay on a Mizo woman called Josie Paris Renthlei, who works in the Indian film industry as a Stylist.
This book has been made possible with the generous support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and has been published by Zubaan Books - an independent, feminist publishing house based in New Delhi with a strong general and academic list.
Art, poetry, photos, essays, and fiction by:
Zubeni Lotha - Minam Apang - Alyen Leeachum Foning - Aheli Moitra -
Soibam Haripriya - Gertrude Lamare - Rini Barman - Nitoo Das - Thingnam Anjulika Samom - Parismita Singh - Dolly Kikon - Ayangbe Mannen - Aungmakhai Chak - Jacqueline Zote - Meena Laishram - Prashansa Gurung -
Shreya Debi and Bilseng R Marak - Mona Zote - Nabina Das - Mamang Dai -
Sanatombi Ningombam - Kundo Yumnam
You can get Copies of Centrepiece: New Writing and Art from Northeast India HERE.
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Help me continue bringing you untold stories through photos and films. Become my Patron. Follow the link: https://www.patreon.com/prashansa
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Help me continue bringing you untold stories through photos and films. Become my Patron. Follow the link: https://www.patreon.com/prashansa