On view at Haverford College from April 4th to May 15th, 2025:
The Cult of the Goddess I Cannot See uses textiles to understand Dalit touch and its relationship to religion.
Also see the Anti-Caste Weaving/Reading Room.
The Cult of the Goddess I Cannot See uses textiles to understand Dalit touch and its relationship to religion.
Also see the Anti-Caste Weaving/Reading Room.
Photo by Patrick Montero
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The term Dalit means broken. It bonds a community filled with many different languages, regions, religions, and beliefs, but that is similarly broken down by Brahmanical Hinduism’s violence. By placing Ammavaru, a non-Vedic deity worshipped primarily by Dalit-Bahujan communities in the South Indian state of Telangana, next to Shambuka, a Bahujan saint from the Ramayana who was beheaded for practicing penance reserved for Brahmins, the exhibit highlights conflicting ideas about the body within Hindu-identifying Dalit-Bahujan communities. Where do we see the worth of our own bodies and lives? Cloth is a record of our touch and existence. A textile’s relationship to the lived body doesn’t begin with its wearer but with its makers. Their presence is felt every time that textile touches another body. The Cult of the Goddess I Cannot See explores the experiences and touch of Dalit-Bahujan bodies through their divine and woven representations.
Photo by Patrick Montero