Transnational homespun, citizen-art and Hindu-Muslim Gandhi ashrams: A working note on, against, and toward spirituality

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis essay grows out of ongoing conversations between Timothy Dobe, a scholar of South Asian religions and Gandhian studies, and Aaron Sinift, the ‘citizen-artist’ at the heart of the khadi and ashram-based, transnational ‘5 Year Plan.’ Sinift’s work engages Gandhian critiques of neo-liberal capitalism and explores gift economies through the project’s organized collaboration with Indian and non-Indian artists and weavers. Dobe explores the relationships of Sinift’s art and postcolonial and religious studies work on spirituality, especially regarding the need to attend to Islamic identity and traditions in both South Asia and America. His side of the conversation connects these present Gandhian art experiments with key historical contexts and comparative examples, including: Islamic nationalist fatwas in support of wearing khadi, Kabir’s Hindu-Muslim devotional poetry and contemporary subaltern studies work on Muslims, Dalits and weaving.