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Open: Mon-Fri 11.30am-2pm & 3.30pm-6.30pm, Sat-Sun 1pm-4.30pm

Merseburgerstrasse 14, 10823, Berlin, Germany
Open: Mon-Fri 11.30am-2pm & 3.30pm-6.30pm, Sat-Sun 1pm-4.30pm

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Saidambi Naik, Husenbi Jamadar, Fathimbi Yaragatti, Maimunbi Mujavar, Shakirambi Naika, Fatimabi Devkari, Hajarambi Mandvekar, Ashabi Jamadar, Husenbi Sattarasab Jamadar, Haniphabi Gunjavati, Hattarabi Gunjavati, Hasina J Gunjavati, Basobi Jamadar, Bibanabi Katwal, Bibijan Chapparkar, Maimunbi Mujavar, Rajamabi Mujavar, Chandabi Desai, Bastin Diggekar in collaboration with Anitha N. Reddy

Gallery Under The Mango Tree presents the exhibition ‚hotte thumbisodu – Siddi Textiles of Care’ showcasing around 20 unique, multicolored, handmade quilts made from recycled cloth which highlight the incredible creativity and skill of about 20 women from the Afro-Indian Siddi community of North Karnataka, India.

The exhibition allows for a deeper exploration of the quilts after four pieces were displayed in the House of World Cultures (HKW) Exhibition „O Quilombismo“ (2023), open until September 17. The title of the exhibition follows a Kannada saying that literally translates to a call for abundance, exclaiming, ‘hotte thumbisodu’ (‘May your belly be full’) the women pay homage to, when sealing their quilts with the last stitch, adding a few grains of rice between the layers of textile.

The Siddi community has a unique migration story, leading from the coast of East Africa to the coast of contemporary Western India. While some arrived as sailors, mercenaries, and aristocrats, others arrived as people who were enslaved. Today, Siddi people live assimilated into Indian societies, but are often found at the margins of urban contexts such as forests, leading to a lack of awareness of their rich cultural heritage, of which the quilts are one fragment.

The quilting techniques are primarily a symbol of (unpaid) care produced by collecting aged clothing over multiple years. The exhibits will show three sizes of these quilts representing the circularity of life, beginning with a selection of quilts for a newborn, progressing through the single bed covers onto the oversized quilt produced for a family. The installation of the works will follow art historian Anitha N. Reddy’s encounters with these quilts in the villages, often seeing them draped over or hanging from a wall or tree, to be aired out.