Graduation project
my body is a walking exhibition
Bhavneet Kaur
A proposed intervention at the V&A Museum in London denounces the colonial origin of objects in museums by hiding them from visitors.
my body is a walking exhibition challenges the imperial gaze and the assumed right to see what is exhibited. It proposes covering all but eight of the 600+ objects in Room 41 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London using white khadi fabric. Khadi holds historical significance as a symbol of Indian colonial resistance and mourning. Intentionally covering the objects and flattening the space disrupts the colonial subject-object power dynamics perpetuated by the exhibition design practices stemming from what Walter Mignolo terms 'modernity/coloniality'. By ‘blocking’ the imperial gaze and creating an exhibit where objects cannot be seen, this decolonial proposition invites staying with the discomfort of an absence.