Diasporic Children of Indenture

We continue our conversation with our guest Karimah Rahman, exploring growing up anglo and Muslim Indo-Caribbean in francophone Quebec and life settling in other parts of Canada.

Karimah (she/her) is the founder of The Muslim Indo-Caribbean Collective (MICC @muslimindocaribbeancollective) and The Muslim Indentureship Studies Center (MISC- @muslimindenturestudiescenter). She is currently pursuing her PhD in Policy Studies focused on the intersectional marginalization, lack of representation and Anti-Muslim Racism towards Muslim Indo-Caribbeans (and marginalization of Indo-Caribbeans) in policy (India’s Diaspora Policy and Ontario’s South Asian Heritage Act, 2001) as well as Indo-Caribbean, Indentured Diasporic, Indian and South Asian spaces.

She has coined a few terms:

• The South Asian/Indian "Authenticity/Purity" Hierarchy Theory

• The Indian(Indentured/Indo-Caribbean)“Authenticity/Purity” Hierarchy Theory

• Mainland South Asian/Indian Supremacy

• Mainland South Asian/Indian Privilege

• Hindu Indian/Indenture/Indo-Caribbean Supremacy

• Hindu Indian/Indenture/Indo-Caribbean Privilege to unpack this

along with popularizing the term Muslim Indo-Caribbean and coining the terms:

• Muslim Indo-Caribbean Heritage Day

• Muslim Indo-Caribbean Studies

• Muslim Indentureship Studies,

• (Radical) Muslim Indo-Caribbean Feminism

• (Radical) Muslim Indentured Diasporic Feminism.

Karimah looks at the legacy of Muslim Indo-Caribbean resistance to colonization, journey of learning/unlearning, intergenerational trauma (rooted in Indentureship, colonization, white supremacy, Hindu supremacy, Hindutva ideology, Brahmin supremacy etc.) and decolonizing (including Decolonizing Mental Health). Karimah is a published author with work ranging from academic to spoken words, she gave talks, interviews and workshops on the topics mentioned earlier. She is currently working on a documentary movie and upcoming book on Being Muslim Indo-Caribbean made by Muslim Indo-Caribbeans for Muslim Indo-Caribbeans.

@DiasporicChildrenofIndenture

Karimah - @karimah__kr

Muslim Indo-Caribbean Collective - @muslimindocaribbeancollective

Podcast Music:

"A Break in the Clouds" by PNFA (2010)

In this episode with our guest Karimah Rahman, we explore the intersections of la francophonie and indenture by discussing growing up anglo and Muslim Indo-Caribbean in francophone Quebec, as well as settling in other parts of Canada.

Karimah (she/her) is the founder of The Muslim Indo-Caribbean Collective (MICC @muslimindocaribbeancollective) and The Muslim Indentureship Studies Center (MISC- @muslimindenturestudiescenter). She is currently pursuing her PhD in Policy Studies focused on the intersectional marginalization, lack of representation and Anti-Muslim Racism towards Muslim Indo-Caribbeans (and marginalization of Indo-Caribbeans) in policy (India’s Diaspora Policy and Ontario’s 2001 South Asian Heritage Act) as well as Indo-Caribbean, Indentured Diasporic, Indian and South Asian spaces.

She has coined a few terms:

• The South Asian/Indian "Authenticity/Purity" Hierarchy Theory

• The Indian(Indentured/Indo-Caribbean)“Authenticity/Purity” Hierarchy Theory

• Mainland South Asian/Indian Supremacy

• Mainland South Asian/Indian Privilege

• Hindu Indian/Indenture/Indo-Caribbean Supremacy

• Hindu Indian/Indenture/Indo-Caribbean Privilege to unpack this

along with popularizing the term Muslim Indo-Caribbean and coining the terms:

• Muslim Indo-Caribbean Heritage Day

• Muslim Indo-Caribbean Studies

• Muslim Indentureship Studies,

• (Radical) Muslim Indo-Caribbean Feminism

• (Radical) Muslim Indentured Diasporic Feminism.

Karimah looks at the legacy of Muslim Indo-Caribbean resistance to colonization, journey of learning/unlearning, intergenerational trauma (rooted in Indentureship, colonization, white supremacy, Hindu supremacy, Hindutva ideology, Brahmin supremacy etc.) and decolonizing (including Decolonizing Mental Health). Karimah is a published author with work ranging from academic to spoken words, she gave talks, interviews and workshops on the topics mentioned earlier. She is currently working on a documentary movie and upcoming book on Being Muslim Indo-Caribbean made by Muslim Indo-Caribbeans for Muslim Indo-Caribbeans.

@DiasporicChildrenofIndenture

Karimah - @karimah__kr

Muslim Indo-Caribbean Collective - @muslimindocaribbeancollective

Podcast Music:

"A Break in the Clouds" by PNFA (2010)

In this episode, we continue with the second part of our chat with our guest Manuela Latchoumaya and discus being Indo-Guadeloupean and living in Europe, at the heart of empire. 

Manuela  is a PhD researcher in Sociology and Politics at the University of  Manchester in the UK. In her PhD, she focuses on the emergence of South  Asian identities in the French public space, looking at how French South  Asians, both those with an indenture background and those whose  families migrated to France through more recent waves of migration,  mobilise against State racism. Her academic and personal interests  include questions of identity, belonging and exclusion and have been  shaped by her experiences as an Indo-Guadeloupean woman both in the  Caribbean and in Europe.

Follow us on Instagram:

@DiasporicChildrenofIndenture

Manuela - @AngryWomanOfColour

Spicy Devis - @SpicyDevis 

Podcast Music:

"A Break in the Clouds" by PNFA (2010)

In this episode with our guest Manuela Latchoumaya, we explore the intersections of la francophonie and indenture by discussing being Indo-Guadeloupean and living in Europe, at the heart of empire. 

Manuela is a PhD researcher in Sociology and Politics at the University of Manchester in the UK. In her PhD, she focuses on the emergence of South Asian identities in the French public space, looking at how French South Asians, both those with an indenture background and those whose families migrated to France through more recent waves of migration, mobilise against State racism. Her academic and personal interests include questions of identity, belonging and exclusion and have been shaped by her experiences as an Indo-Guadeloupean woman both in the Caribbean and in Europe.

Follow us on Instagram: 

@DiasporicChildrenofIndenture

Manuela - @AngryWomanOfColour

Spicy Devis - @SpicyDevis 

Podcast Music:

"A Break in the Clouds" by PNFA (2010)

This episode is part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Bissonauth on being Indo-Mauritian and the intersections of indenture and la francophonie. 

Dr.  Natasha Bissonauth joins the Visual Art and Art History department at York University (Toronto, ON). Prior to, she was Assistant Professor at the College of Wooster (OH) in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her research centers on contemporary artists of color, queer and feminist art-making in particular situated in contemporary global visual cultures. With an emphasis on South Asian and South Asian transnational circuits of art,   select artist interviews, exhibition reviews, and book reviews include  Art Asia Pacific, Art India, C Magazine,  and Women + Performance. Peer-reviewed articles include “Zanele Muholi’s Affective Appeal to Act” (Photography & Culture, 2014) and “Sunil Gupta’s Sun City: An Exercise in Camping Orientalism” (Art Journal;  2019). Recent publication includes a book chapter on how Chitra Ganesh’s speculative aesthetic intervenes in museum display (2020). She also published an article in South Asia journal on the artwork of Sa’dia Rehman titled,  “The Dissent of Play: Lotahs in the Museum,” where Bissonauth lays out her ideas on play as a form of aesthetic dissent. New research interests include examining the role of the speculative in the study of indenture studies.

In this episode with our guest Dr. Natasha Bissonauth, we discuss being of Indo-Mauritian heritage and growing up anglo in South Shore/Rive-Sud nestled in francophone Québec. 

Dr. Natasha Bissonauth joins the Visual Art and Art History department at York University (Toronto, ON). Prior to, she was Assistant Professor at the College of Wooster (OH) in  Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her research centers on contemporary artists of color, queer and feminist art-making in  particular situated in contemporary global visual cultures. With an emphasis on South Asian and South Asian transnational circuits of art,  select artist interviews, exhibition reviews, and book reviews include Art Asia Pacific, Art India, C Magazine,  and Women + Performance.  Peer-reviewed articles include “Zanele Muholi’s Affective Appeal to  Act” (Photography & Culture, 2014) and “Sunil Gupta’s Sun City: An  Exercise in Camping Orientalism” (Art Journal;  2019). Recent publication includes a book chapter on how Chitra Ganesh’s speculative aesthetic intervenes in museum display (2020). She also published an article in South Asia journal on the artwork of Sa’dia Rehman titled, “The Dissent of Play: Lotahs in the Museum,” where Bissonauth lays out her ideas on play as a form of aesthetic dissent. New research interests include examining the role of the speculative in the study of indenture studies.

We continue our episode with Fazle Shairmahomed @fazle_shairmahomed(he/they/she/dem) on being Hindoestaan—or Indo-Surinamese—in The Hague, The Netherlands and the meanings of dance and identity.

Fazle Shairmahomed creates decolonizing rituals, performance art, and dance. Their work is rooted in ancestral work and intersectional activism. Through the urgency of community building their work creates spaces in which different communities are invited to nurture conversations around colonialism and the ways in which it has impacted our histories and the ways in which it exists today. The multi-sensorial approach in their work also challenges the ways in which we perceive the world around us through themes such as death, rebirth, ancestry, belonging, colonial histories, and healing. Since 2013 he is also one of the members of CLOUD danslab, an artist run dance studio which supports research and practice of dance, movement, and performance art in the Hague.

The physcial work and research of Fazle is deeply rooted in ways of approaching the state of trance, through archaic movements and ritual practices mostly inspired and informed by Muslim/Sufi traditions of Gnawa, Zar, the whirling Dervish; Japanese Butoh, Surinamese Winti culture, Hindu rituals, Caribbean Bubbling, Muslim funeral practices, Vogueing, and the Club.

Fazle was born and raised in a multicultural society in de Transvaal/Schilderswijk in Den Haag, in the Netherlands, they feel very hybrid, and identifies currently, but not exclusively, as Dutch, Surinamese-Hindustani, Indo-Caribbean, Muslim, Queer, non-binary, and as a person of color.

In this episode with our guest Fazle Shairmahomed @fazle_shairmahomed (he/they/she/dem), a Hindoestaan—or Indo-Surinamese—modern dancer who employs various decolonial methods in her art, we discuss being Indo-Surinamese in Den Haag (The Hague), The Netherlands and the meanings of dance and identity.

Fazle Shairmahomed creates decolonizing rituals, performance art, and dance. Their work is rooted in ancestral work and intersectional activism. Through the urgency of community building their work creates spaces in which different communities are invited to nurture conversations around colonialism and the ways in which it has impacted our histories and the ways in which it exists today. The multi-sensorial approach in their work also challenges the ways in which we perceive the world around us through themes such as death, rebirth, ancestry, belonging, colonial histories, and healing. Since 2013 he is also one of the members of CLOUD danslab, an artist run dance studio which supports research and practice of dance, movement, and performance art in the Hague.

The physcial work and research of Fazle is deeply rooted in ways of approaching the state of trance, through archaic movements and ritual practices mostly inspired and informed by Muslim/Sufi traditions of Gnawa, Zar, the whirling Dervish; Japanese Butoh, Surinamese Winti culture, Hindu rituals, Caribbean Bubbling, Muslim funeral practices, Vogueing, and the Club.

Fazle was born and raised in a multicultural society in de Transvaal/Schilderswijk in Den Haag, in the Netherlands, they feel very hybrid, and identifies currently, but not exclusively, as Dutch, Surinamese-Hindustani, Indo-Caribbean, Muslim, Queer, non-binary, and as a person of color.

We continue our chat with guest Anjuli Shiwraj on being Indo-Guyanese in the Greater Toronto Area and the meanings of dance and identity.

Anjuli Shiwraj is the Founder and Artistic Director of Shivanjali Arts. Being a professional Kathak dancer, visual artist, makeup artist, and costume designer, Anjuli decided to create Shivanjali Arts: an organization to promote Indian Arts and culture as well as performing arts. Anjuli hails from a very artistic and musical family. Her relatives have among them talented singers, musicians including harmonium, tabla, dholak and tassa players. She was trained by Mrs. Deviekha Chetram who also was from Alexander village, Guyana. Anjuli has been dancing in the Greater Toronto Area as well as internationally for many years. Anjuli has danced for numerous organizations, charities, and has been a part of several dance companies, including: Tarana Dance Company, Natya Arts, and Panwar Dance Productions. Anjuli is trained in both Lucknow and Jaipur Gharanas of Kathak. She has had the distinct honor and privilege of training under notable dancer Alokparna Guha. She has also trained with Pt. Birju Maharaj Ji and his foremost disciple Smt. Saswati Sen Ji in numerous dance workshops in North America, as well as recently she learned a beautiful piece online with Pt. Rajendra Gangani. Anjuli has also received professional level training in Jaipur Gharana, as a company dancer with Panwar Music and Dance Productions. She has toured with their production of "Shakuntala" and Also Taken part in their debut performance on Krishna, among many of their other stage performances including Mosaic: Rajasthan Calling.

Teaching has become one of Anjuli's greatest passions and seeks to pass on what she learned with utmost humility. It is her goal to not only nourish the upcoming generation, but also encourage anyone of any age to pursue their love of the arts.

Anjuli provides Kathak dance classes for all ages online, and studio in Ajax, as well as dance makeup classes, costume design and rental, and dance performance training through Shivanjali Arts.

In this episode with our guest Anjuli Shiwraj, founder and artistic director of Shivanjali Arts (@shivanjali.arts) and a skilled, classically-trained dancer, we talk about being Indo-Guyanese in the Greater Toronto Area and the meanings of dance and identity. 

Anjuli Shiwraj is the Founder and Artistic Director of Shivanjali Arts. Being a professional Kathak dancer, visual artist, makeup artist, and costume designer, Anjuli decided to create Shivanjali Arts: an organization to promote Indian Arts and culture as well as performing arts. Anjuli hails from a very artistic and musical family. Her relatives have among them talented singers, musicians including harmonium, tabla, dholak and tassa players. She was trained by Mrs. Deviekha Chetram who also was from Alexander village, Guyana.

Teaching has become one of Anjuli's greatest passions and seeks to pass on what she learned with utmost humility. It is her goal to not only nourish the upcoming generation, but also encourage anyone of any age to pursue their love of the arts.

Anjuli provides Kathak dance classes for all ages online, and studio in Ajax, as well as dance makeup classes, costume design and rental, and dance performance training through Shivanjali Arts.