EVER GIVEN NEELKUTHI

In this project the garment industry and world trade is looked at from different geographic, colonial and experiential perspectives.

Never having met, the two artists exchanged ideas on social media for a while, moving gently towards trying to make something together. Farah Naz Moon suggested making a soft object - as a means of coping with hard times. From this it was agreed to make a dress - in fact two dresses.

Farah used the kind of thin cotton used to wrap dead bodies. The starting point for her imagery and text is the remains of the Neelkuthi indigo factory, close to the village in Bangladesh where she grew up. Established under British rule, the factory imprisoned and tortured local farmers, forcing them to shift from food production to growing indigo for clothes manufacture.

Clare constructed a dress from a garment made in Bangladesh. Her starting point is the event of the container ship 'Ever Given' being stuck in the Suez Canal for 7 days, causing a trade blockage in both directions. At the time here was great media interest, and the boat later became a sight of tourism. Clare looked into the myths that grew and spread from this event.

The dresses were joined in simultaneous performances In The Tetley, Leeds, UK and Studio Mahbub, Dhaka, Bangladesh.