リティ・セングプタ

Riti Sengupta

After eight years of living apart, Riti Sengupta moved in with her parents at the onset of the pandemic. Upon her return, she was confronted by the ease with which patriarchal structures animated the dynamics of her family, articulated through everyday domesticities.

In reckoning with the convenient acceptance of her mother’s position within their home, Sengupta began what she calls “kitchen conversations.” She combed through the family archive with her mother, and listened to stories of women who had come before her. The contrast between the lives these women led before they became mothers and wives, and after, was stark──Sengupta could see how her own mother’s personhood was diminished under the weight of household expectations. Patriarchy exists here in subtle gestures of the everyday──in the domestic load that is imposed on women as wives, mothers and daughters, or in the romanticising of the role of the woman as an unconditional giver. The conversations between mother and daughter turn into collaborative performances, through which both reflect on their own realities. Using buoyant language, they respond to the larger politics of family, marriage, and the domestic household.

Tanvi Mishra, Curator / Writer