Audio Duration: 7 minutes 12 seconds
This is Shivani's story. A henna artist based in Queens, she travels all over the city. Before she moved to New York, she was an art student in India, curating her own exhibitions. However, it wasn't a smooth journey. Her father wanted her to study science. In India, science is more respectable. A henna artist simply belongs to a "lower class." Shivani was confident her heart belonged to the arts. As a result of her choices, her father and brother didn't speak to her for months. Years later, her brother showed up at her first art exhibit, and left her a little note. In New York, she makes a life for herself, right from scratch. Here, working with henna with Indian clientele brings up shades of discrimination, Indian tones of classism. This is a story about how identity is erased and imprinted again and again, much like henna itself.
My Role
Reporting
Script Writing
Audio Editing
Production
Reporting
Script Writing
Audio Editing
Production