Mathushaa & Tahmina- Oral Histories & Gold

In Episode 8, I speak to both Mathushaa and Tahmina about gold jewellery given to them, what it represents and the oral history linked to these beautiful pieces. In this episode both of them had very different stories about their gold pieces for Mathushaa, it's the gold chain and Tamil 'aum' pendant given to her when she was born, and we speak about the significance of it as an heirloom as her family had to flee Sri Lanka due to the civil war and came to the UK with no family heirlooms to had down to her, hence the chain given to her by her uncle was to mark the safety of a new generation in a new country. Mathushaa uses her work as a photographer to document her family story and this something that we touch on through out the conversation; how through her work she's documenting their story thats been lost due to war. For journalist and writer Tahmina, adorning herself in her gold jewellery has been part expressing her South Asianess and specifically her Bangladeshi heritage. We talk about her love for jewellery and how she styles pieces either gifted to her to handed down to her in her everyday clothing to make her feel the strength, resilience and femininity of her female ancestors. This project for me has been about documenting South Asian oral history however seeing how Tahmina, proudly identifies as Bengali made me aware of how important it is to mention the various and distinct sub cultures within South Asia who all have their on specific traditions and heritages, which I hope shines through in every episode. Read more about their stories and see photos of the jewellery here: https://www.anishaparmar.com/blogs/news/episode-8-trauma-and-gold A huge thank you to my participants that have trusted me with their incredible stories, my co producer and Editor of the series Molly Crossley and to the Arts Council for giving me the time and funding to delve into something that’s so close to my heart.  For more information about the project visit: www.anishaparmar.com/pages/empowered-adornment Follow me on Instagram @anishaparmarlondon If you would like to get in touch or have a Gold Jewellery Story to share email me: [email protected] Credits: Podcast Creator and Co Producer: Anisha Parmar Co Producer and Editor: Molly Crossley  In this Story: Mathushaa and Tahmina Music: Punjabi Beats by Ash Beat & Shahed | Chatterbox by Morethanthemind

Om Podcasten

The podcast encapsulates the research I have been doing around Gold jewellery collected through South Asian journeys of migration as artefacts with the capacity to be carriers of emotions and memories. With support from the Arts Council, I have spoken to a range of people within the South Asian diaspora, about their gold jewellery, what it means to them, how these pieces have travelled through migrant journeys and they memories they holds. This is Empowered Adornment, Gold Jewellery stories with Anisha Parmar. Co Produced and Edited by Molly Crossley.