ਮੁਕਤਿ ਮਾਲ ਕਨਿਕ ਲਾਲ ਹੀਰਾ ਮਨ ਰੰਜਨ ਕੀ ਮਾਇਆ ॥

 ਮੁਕਤਿ  ਮਾਲ  ਕਨਿਕ  ਲਾਲ  ਹੀਰਾ  ਮਨ  ਰੰਜਨ  ਕੀ  ਮਾਇਆ  ॥ 

mukti maal kanik laal heera man ranjan kee maaiaa ||

Simranpreet Anand and Conner Singh VanderBeek

2021

Video, 16:33.

On special occasions - births, deaths, weddings, and holidays - Sikh families donate sets of rumala sahib to gurdwaras, or Sikh spaces of worship. These textiles are opened and placed atop the Guru Granth Sahib, folded, and put away for later use.

The stacking of fabrics is inspired by this process and the kapra mandi, or fabric store, where shopkeepers will layer open fabrics atop one another for customers to view. There is an embodied way fabrics are handled within South Asian spaces that is evoked in the artists’ performance.

In the title of this piece, Guru Arjun explains that gold and precious gems please the mind but are little more than material trappings (Ang 700). This video explores the rich and enticing range of patterns and textures present in rumaley sahib, but also the pervasive cheapness of the materials from which they are constructed. The artists take care to smooth the fabrics as they are unfolded, yet the creases in these plastic textiles never go away. The artists also pull out loose threads to make the textiles appear perfect to the eye, but this process further accelerates the unraveling of these low-cost objects.