Reflecting a Diaspora: In-between Whitework and Indigo

Abstract

Homi Bhabha’s “third space” theory provides a framework for deconstructing identity and creating new forms of expression in a space considered “in-between” cultures or boundaries. An Indian-embroidered English christening garment represents a multigenerational economic migration for a “self-portrait”-style investigation. This gown materializes a subjective narrative of the legacy of British colonization, postcolonization, and apartheid rule in South Africa. The stitch craft and associated cultural history of whitework reveal traces of the impact of class and colonial status barriers. In parallel, a trusted cotton indigo fabric iShweShwe1 is frequently worn in the post-apartheid, postcolonial nation. iShweShwe’s cross-cultural heritage includes links to German/Hungarian BlauDruk fabric and the English colonial cotton export trade. Cultural associations have crossed ethnicity barriers and the entrenched colonial color and class discriminatory practices. This preliminary research questions the experiences of the multigenerational migrants linked to the gown and the accompanying insider–outsider dislocated experience of a migrant influenced by colonial rule and decolonization in India and South Africa.