Kala Pani ("Black Water")
Maryam Mohamed
Kala Pani is an embodiment of a part of my journey towards self-empowerment and coming to terms with the many dimensions of my cultural identity. The dress represents my reclaiming of social status through the symbol of the giant water lily, Guyana’s national flower. Kala Pani (Black Water) was a taboo that resulted in the loss of social status among the thousands of Indians, including my ancestors, who crossed the sea because Victorian and Edwardian colonizers exploited their labour. The water lily acts as a metaphor for rebirth, representing our growth from humble roots. By writing down our own historical narratives and creating our own artefacts, we can subvert the Kala Pani taboo to show our resilience and the complexity of our culture as we’ve migrated throughout the world.
I created the Kala Pani dress with synthetic satin, tulle, laser-cut acrylic, and glass beads, combining both hand and machine techniques; in other words, combining tradition with what is modern today. The accessories and foundational garments were created using found objects. The stacked necklaces each reveal a different cultural tradition: a terracotta necklace gifted to me from India, an intricate Indian pendant, a pendant from Guyana, and a Canadian coin.
Dresses, despite still not being taken seriously due to misogyny, tell a visual story that reveals aspects of the wearer and the dressmaker. This is the objective of the Kala Pani dress, to tell the story of my own history through crafting and wearing the piece.
