Transnational homespun, citizen-art and Hindu-Muslim Gandhi ashrams: A working note on, against, and toward spirituality

ABSTRACT

This essay grows out of ongoing conversations between Timothy Dobe, a scholar of South Asian religions and Gandhian studies, and Aaron Sinift, the ‘citizen-artist’ at the heart of the khadi and ashram-based, transnational ‘5 Year Plan.’ Sinift’s work engages Gandhian critiques of neo-liberal capitalism and explores gift economies through the project’s organized collaboration with Indian and non-Indian artists and weavers. Dobe explores the relationships of Sinift’s art and postcolonial and religious studies work on spirituality, especially regarding the need to attend to Islamic identity and traditions in both South Asia and America. His side of the conversation connects these present Gandhian art experiments with key historical contexts and comparative examples, including: Islamic nationalist fatwas in support of wearing khadi, Kabir’s Hindu-Muslim devotional poetry and contemporary subaltern studies work on Muslims, Dalits and weaving.

KEYWORDS:

• Art
• Gandh
• Hindu-Muslim unity
• homespun
• khadi
• postcolonialism
• religion
• spirituality

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBMc9s8oDWE, accessed 17 October 2017.

2. Final printing and binding of the book and vital logistics were done by Nandita Devraj of Rudraksh of Jaipur. People Tree Collective of New Delhi/Goa has been an inspiration to our work since the very beginning, providing an ethical compass by example. The OTHER IMAGININGS Project was made possible with generous & patient support from Frank Williams and Keris Salmon, and numerous supporters and subscribers. The first khadi book produced by the 5YP was self-titled (2013); the second book, OTHER IMAGININGS, was completed in 2016; the third and final book is currently being conceived and planned, and is briefly described below.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tim Dobe

Tim Dobe is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Grinnell College. His research on South Asian religions, especially Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, focuses on asceticism, comparison, pluralism, and peace and postcolonial studies. He is the author of Hindu Christian Faqir: Modern Monks, Global Christianity and Indian Sainthood (Oxford University Press, 2015). His next book project examines M. K. Gandhi’s overlooked debt to Islamic traditions, Muslim leaders, and communities, including the historical sources and contemporary afterlives of these connections.

Aaron Sinift

Aaron Sinift (b. ’66) is an artist living and working in Beacon NY. He has a BFA in Painting from the University of Iowa (96ʹ) and an MFA from Boston University (02ʹ). He instigated the 5 Year Plan Project in 2009 (www.5yearplan.org) to engage with Gandhi ashram khadi collectives to deepen his understanding of life in India from the perspective of Gandhian service. His essay ‘Weaving Stories’ on the 5 Year Plan Project is included in the upcoming book ‘Freedom of the Presses’. He lives with his wife Greta Byrum and five-year-old son Orion.