Desh Pardesh
Toronto-based artist Pamila Matharu was invited to contribute to this project. Active since the early 1990s in Toronto, she has been a key organizer for South Asian and BIPOC cultural communities, including serving on the 1994 Desh Pardesh programming committee. Here are materials from Matharu’s personal archive from this period, illustrating the networks of South Asian queer organizing in other contexts in North America. The Desh Pardesh Conference/Festival (1988–2001) was an event-based gathering that took place in Toronto and was key to developing counter-hegemonic and non-status-quo cultural jamming in the diasporas. It was an important space for encounter and community for those in the diaspora and many artists, academics, performers and writers such as Nayan Shah, D'Lo, and Chitra Ganesh met each other and connected there.
Toronto-based artist Pamila Matharu was invited to contribute to this project. Active since the early 1990s in Toronto, she has been a key organizer for South Asian and BIPOC cultural communities, including serving on the 1994 Desh Pardesh programming committee. Here are materials from Matharu’s personal archive from this period, illustrating the networks of South Asian queer organizing in other contexts in North America. The Desh Pardesh Conference/Festival (1988–2001) was an event-based gathering that took place in Toronto and was key to developing counter-hegemonic and non-status-quo cultural jamming in the diasporas. It was an important space for encounter and community for those in the diaspora and many artists, academics, performers and writers such as Nayan Shah, D'Lo, and Chitra Ganesh met each other and connected there.
Curators
Aziz Sohail is a Pakistani-born curator and writer whose research and resultant projects honor and recognise the power of queer & feminist collectivity, sociability, joy and wayward encounter. They are currently a PhD Candidate in Curatorial Practice at Monash University, Australia.
Alexis Bard Johnson is the Curator at the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. She oversees the exhibitions, programs, and art collection at one of the largest repositories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer materials in the world. She most recently curated Looking for Lesbians, Six (Linear) Feet and the online exhibition Safer at Home. She holds a PhD in Art History from Stanford University and a BA from Princeton University.