Nafas I, Isolation Diaries | Rs. 1500

Nafas or The Isolation Diaries began in March 2020 when the world went into ‘lockdown’ due to the global pandemic of the virus which came to be known as COVID-19. Like any virus it is tasteless, invisible and odourless yet it remains to us as a potential silent killer, devastating lives and ripping families apart. In order to protect further damage each government of each country, one by one, locked their doors, closed their borders and ordered people to stay at home to ‘stay safe’. Yet staying at home came at the cost of forced separations from our loved ones with spiralling thoughts of isolation, sadness, anger and frustration.
 
For Arshi Irshad Ahmadzai this period resulted in 120 letters written to her husband, becoming artworks on cloth, all pages from a type of diary, completed over ten months. From the very beginning in March, Ahmadzai prepared her studio (an emptied room in her parents’ home) by writing script on the walls. These letters and words, pouring from her heart and down the walls came to bear witness on all that she did, all that she felt, acting as The First Letter. And as each month slipped by slowly, the practice of going to the studio, sitting on a prayer mat and intuitively recording her thoughts and reflections became a daily ritual in her private world. This was the only way to make sense of this unprecedented, uncertain and difficult time, a way of coping when all our routines were suddenly stopped. 

Excerpt from the essay, ‘Between two Worlds’, by Uthra Rajgopal

Curator and Editorial Adviser: Amit Kumar Jain
Graphic Design: Shruti Chamaria
Translation: Kadamboor Neeraj
Printing: Vishwakala Printers
 
ISBN: 978-81-954427-2-0
dimensions in cms - 24.75 x 18.5 cm
number of pages - 124+Cover