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ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
  
Sweeping Change: Transforming Attitudes Towards the Humble Jharu
an exhibition of jharus or brooms at the Gandhi Smriti, New Delhi.
We were commissioned by the Asian Heritage Foundation to work on this project.
View photographs for the show and images from the show here.
“If we do not take the broom in our hands we cannot make our nation clean”
– Mahatma Gandhi.
An exhibition on jharus or brooms, their makers, vendors and users. We were responsible
for collecting the brooms, conducting the research and creating the content (text and images)
for the exhibition.
The humble broom has a massive significance in India. Due to the nature of its association
with dirt, it is a tool associated with untouchability. However, it was one of the three
‘symbols of revolution’ for Gandhi during India’s struggle for freedom. The broom stands for
dignity of labor and social equality.
The exhibition highlighted various aspects of jharus — from the economy to the ecology of
the various types of brooms found in india which are designed according to the available
plants, the desired function and the skills of the craftsperson making it.
Brooms have also been used by women in protests as a symbol to cleanse society and it is
one of the instruments used by Goddess Shitala Mata, the Bengali Goddess of Disease, to
sweep away ailments with her broom.This exhibition was conceived in conjunction with
the
Asian Heritage Foundation, and
in collaboration with Meena Kadri who has featured it on
her blog here.
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