Shivani Sridhar

About

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. I stood imagining all the yellows, and that made all the difference.

I am Shivani (I go by Shiv), an Indian artist, currently based in London. A graphic designer by profession previously, my practice now is passionately feminist and is expressed through multiple media. In my work, I am a graphic designer, a multimedia artist, a performer, a listener, and an activist foremost.

Growing up as a woman in various parts of India has led me to observe the unheard and the unsaid around me, in silence, as I was encouraged to be. This needled my interest in silence, especially women’s silences, our position in society (prescribed and demanded), our lived experiences, their shaping of collective memories and ultimately, the power dynamics of our being. Through the course of the year, I have worked on and built a growing alternate archive of women’s silences titled “Penna Pirandhal…” (“If you are born a woman…”). Penna Pirandhal is an alternative archive exploring women’s silences in Indian contexts and their shaping of collective memory and personal histories. Situated within the site of my family, the project builds a dialogue with people, domestic spaces, and objects, examining the silences embedded within them. Through this work, I seek to redefine ‘voice’ and ‘silence,’ understand women’s agency, and challenge the relevance of Western feminist theories in Indian sociocultural contexts.

My practice is deeply narrative driven and my work is prescribed by it. I delve into my areas of interest through practice-based research. I investigate my research topics through performance, alternate photography methods and graphic design. I hope to build a dialogue with my work about these silences and the people to be remembered through them.