Ashmina Lamichhane

Bidesi

‘Even though we have British passports, we’re still Nepali.’

– Muhan Kumari Thapa (My mother)

‘Bidesi' translates to foreigner in Nepali, encompassing the inquiry into the bridge between the diasporic and assimilated identities of the British-Nepali experience.

What began as a critical exploration of my cultural identity, explored through observational analysis of my archival images of family gatherings, manifested into participating in conversational dialogue with my family. Familiar with journalistic interviews as part of my research, I explored workshopping and participatory activities as a novice research method to illicit critical dialogue in informal domestic environments.

‘Me at home is definitely more Nepali. Whereas me outside, [..] be a lot more British me.’

– Sabrina Sharma (My cousin)

Group activities such as large-scale mind mapping and drawing household objects within the safe enclosure of their home allow the room to become recontextualised as a space for vulnerable discussions. A reflective tool that aids in individual and social criticality in the context of their family. To become critical of my own echo chamber of perspectives, my research has been conducted in three homes, totalling six participants. All of which are close family and a friend I have known since my first day in British education. In chronological order, they are:

1.    My parents: Puran Rana and Muhan Kumari Thapa.

2.    My Aunt and her daughters: Rukmani Thapa, Swastika and Sabrina Sharma.

3.    My childhood friend: Kripa Vitrakoti.

Individual interviews and participatory activities were documented through video and audio recordings. Along with the archiving of mind maps and drawings. These then were materialised into a tangible object of a printed book publication, that re-enters and situates itself into the same domestic environment the workshops were conducted in.

Drawing Workshop

An oil pastel drawing workshop with my aunt and her two daughters was conducted in their home, in their living room. The brief was to pick an object that has personal significance to them, placed it in the middle of the floor as we sat around and drew them whilst discussing their relationship to their object. This became a fun, light-heartened method of engaging in dialogue about their experiences as Nepali living in Britain through intergenerational dialogue.

Objects drawn:

1.    Plant Pot by Rukmani Thapa

2.    Netball by Sabrina Sharma

3.    Portable handheld fan by Swastika Sharma

Mind Mapping

Diagrammatic group inquiry into reflecting experiences of being British and Nepali. Individuals from each home were asked to participate in writing a mind map of their experiences living in Britain and being Nepali. Participating in a group activity creates a diagram that is an individual's thoughts in context with others close to them. Nepali community being a community-based society, it was a choice to not have these be done individually. With the exception of my friend, Kripa, who did not live with her family during this time.

During the early stages of experimental making, before the interviews and workshops were conducted, I reached out to my mother, my closest point of contact and connection to my Nepali identity. We used crocheting to bond, a craft she has practiced as young girl, which she learned through the women in her upbringing living in Palpa, Nepal.

Due to limited resources, my mother would crochet her own school bag. She taught me how Nepali women would use craft skills, such as crocheting, weaving, and sewing to create functional items for everyday use. I learned how craft can be medium to catalyse conversations and share intergenerational indigenous skills.

In response, I crocheted a bag using the stitch patterns taught by my mother. I experimented with Nepali Devanagari typography by using alpha patterns to be able to crochet ‘Magar’ (my ethnicity) or ‘Nepali’ onto the bag.

An exploration of collaborating the traditional craft of crocheting with my creative practice as a Graphic Design graduate. Materialising my research question of the bridge between the diasporic and assimilated identities; a functional piece of item representing sharing of intergenerational skill and how it can adapt and evolve.

I took the subject of food to begin a dialogue between myself and family members during my visit to my parent’s home for Tihar and Bhai Tika. Utilising the family gathering of celebrating festivities to eat and listen to stories, documented through audio-recorded interviews.

Through one-on-one conversation, I was able to learn about their upbringing in Nepal through the subject of food. Unveiling expectations of gender roles, environment, and endearing memories. I collected each one of their adorned cooking recipes, to bring back with me to London in my student accommodation.

I recreated my Mama (uncle) and Ama (mother)'s recipes in my shared flat kitchen. Resurfacing memories of cooking with my parents as the aroma of spices transcended me back in time. The act of cooking alone became the meditative process of connecting to my family and my Nepali heritage. Redefining my environment of solitude to a temporal space of familiarity and safety.