Greater Kashmir cartoonist Malik Sajad draws a cartoon on Kashmir’s contemporary cultural identity. Visual artist and art college teacher Showkat Kathjoo talks about the transformation of Srinagar, the largest city in India-administered Kashmir. Watch video here.
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Filming Kashir: Twenty-one years after the onset of armed struggle against Indian rule, a cultural crisis grips Kashmir. Violence, fear, and censorship closed the social spaces where the emotional impact of dramatic transformation could be expressed in the Kashmir community. For the past two years, Elayne McCabe filmed and researched the Kashmir Valley’s artistic heritage. From old Srinagar’s architecture, to shawl weaving, to Sufiyana Mousiqee, her work explores Kashmir’s cultural identity within the context of conflict and globalization. Ms. McCabe’s time in Kashmir culminated in a feature length film exploring the intersection of contemporary art, cultural heritage, and political mayhem. Ultimately, her project offers a new perspective on the everyday realities of Kashmiri life in crisis.