//023 Aqui Thami

Aqui is a Janajāti woman from the Himalayan regions of South Asia. She travelled to Aotearoa from India earlier this year for an exhibition we both participated in at ST PAUL st Gallery. It was in the middle of the Ihumātao reclamation and so we recorded her interview in a portacom, on the whenua. In this episode she shares the reality of being an indigenous Indian woman, of growing up in a militarised neighbourhood, the rules around when and how people can gather, and the truths of the tea plantations in her home area of Darjeeling. She also talks to us about her brave move to open Sister Library and, how she uses art in activism and community empowerment projects.