The Humanities for Life course "Gandhi and Resistance" will begin its spring semester events with a talk by artist Aaron Sinift, 4:15, Friday, March 1st, in the Faulconer Gallery. Chai and snacks will be served in the Rotunda, starting at 4 p.m.
Sinift will speak on "The Five Year Plan," his collaboration with Gandhi Ashram spinning and weaving collectives in India and 26 artists from seven countries to produce a collection of artworks printed on hand-spun khadi cloth. The project represents artwork as social architecture, bringing together artists, scholars, poets, rural villagers, and Gandhian activists, and uniting the efforts of hundreds of people with different ideas of art, economics, technology, and sustainable modes of production.
Aaron Sinift studied painting, printmaking, and South Asian studies at the University of Iowa and received an MFA in painting from Boston University. He has visited India seven times in the last 20 years and currently works at the Smithsonian Institution and American University.
Sinift's work connects grassroots artists and weavers working in Gandhi's tradition of self-sufficiency in India with world-renowned artists such as Yoko Ono and Francesco Clemente. Sinfit makes his collaborative books and jholas (shoulder bags) through innovative economic, artistic, activist transnational networks connecting village India and western art making and markets.
For more information, see 5yearplan.org
This event is generously co-sponsored by Faulconer Gallery and the University of Iowa.
