Brocade Shoulder Bag is an enlarged cardboard sculpture of an everyday object: my shoulder bag. Traditional and modern Pakistani fabrics are attached to the cardboard panels, specifically fragments of an old silk brocade shawl and mechanically printed textiles resembling Pakistani bedsheets. The juxtaposition between handmade and machine-manufactured fabrics manifests the changing textile industry in Pakistan, switching from hand-crafted heritage fabrics to mass-produced, digitally designed textiles. Furthermore, bags signify the safe keeping of one’s treasured belongings; paired with fabrics that reflect my cultural background, this sculpture elevates a shoulder bag into an expression of my cultural identity.
World of Threads Festival Exhibition Display
Cardboard Maquette
