Indu Antony with women of Namma Katte

2024

30 blouses

Cotton and Kaudi embroidery

 

தண்ணிர் இல்லமல் ரத்தத்தை எப்படி கடுவுவேண் How Will I Wash the Blood Off Without Water? is a community-driven photographic project that foregrounds the voices of women living through Bengaluru’s escalating water crisis. The work comprises a series of 30 photographs of saree blouses—each one stitched by a woman who has personally experienced the daily burden of water scarcity. On the back of every blouse, the women have embroidered a text that speaks to their struggles, frustrations, and resilience. Together, these 30 blouses honour the 30 women who stood in protest demanding access to water in their neighbourhood.

The blouses are crafted using Kaudi, a traditional patchwork technique unique to northern Karnataka, grounding the project in local material culture while transforming clothing into a site of testimony. By bringing their labour, craft, and words into public view, the project becomes both an archive of lived experience and a call for collective action. How Will I Wash the Blood Off Without Water? seeks to generate awareness around the ongoing water crisis and to acknowledge the women who continue to bear its heaviest impact.