Phulkari

Phulkari

Kirandeep Bhumber (SMTD)

Collaborators: Michael Gurevich, Chair of the Performing Arts Technology Department, Thesis advisor for Phulkari; Conner Singh Vanderbeek, current PhD student, Graduate Assistant and Pianist, Department of Ethnomusicology; Molly Pabersz, Dancer and Choreographer, Dance MFA graduate 2017; AJ Covey, current MMusic student, Graduate Assistant and Percussionist, School of Music, Theatre & Dance; Ian Lang, current BMusic and B.Eng, Percussionist and Engineer, School of Engineering and School of Music, Theatre & Dance; Daphna Raz, current MA student, Technologist and Violinist, Department of Performing Arts Technology, School of Music, Theatre & Dance; Matias Vilaplana, current MA student, Technologist, Department of Performing Arts Technology, School of Music, Theatre & Dance; Soledad Munoz, current MFA Student, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

This project proposes the development of Phulkari, an interactive multimedia performance involving textiles, dance, music and visualizations. The interdisciplinary project aims to envelop South Asian cultural identity, tradition, and memory within the present digital realm. The performance, Phulkari is based on a weaving practice of a culturally specific textile (with same name) belonging to women in Punjabi villages — one that is passed down from mother to daughter and from bride to new village. Inscribed in the practice are processes of cultural change and continuity, the transmission of memory, embodiment and nostalgia.