Child's play
VOGUE India|September - October 2024
Firpal Jawanda’s work has appeared on Skims tank tops, in cookbooks and been used for Palestinian fundraisers. Now their most ambitious work is a grudge against colonialism.Photographed by NOORUNISA
ARMAN KHAN
Child's play

In Firpal Jawanda’s upcoming untitled sci-fi comic book, every character is a messed-up queer individual living in a futuristic gay underworld. Imagine a place where the pings of dating apps are ambient noise, every party is a hedonistic jamboree and anti-establishment graffiti adorns public bathroom stalls. In one corner, a drag queen remixes a ’90s Bollywood song. Elsewhere, life-sized neon holograms of Lady Gaga and Troye Sivan slow dance. In the British Indian artist’s world, things are different. “This is a space where people who want to feel free and hide from the world live,” says the artist of the fantastical South Asian city they have carved out on the edge of the universe. The 80-year-old protagonist of their biggest illustrative work to date meets disgruntled gay bar owners and gets hit on by a woman in a sauna “who doesn’t care that she is 80. At one point, someone misgenders her and calls her a dirty old man”.

For the 29-year-old non-binary artist, subjecting their protagonist to the frustrations of being misgendered was a reflection of their own experience. “Every queer person I know, including me, finds a place in this book. A lot of times when I’m writing characters who are talking to each other, I try to mix in the wisdom that queer people have with their absolute, feral impulsivity.” It’s an accurate reflection of our present world where ageist, fat-shaming comments can come from that man on Grindr who you're thirsting after; the same man who, despite fat-shaming you, still desires you. In their works, Jawanda probes these dualities, pulling references from Indian mythology and blending them with the eccentricities that define humans.

この記事は VOGUE India の September - October 2024 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は VOGUE India の September - October 2024 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

VOGUE INDIAのその他の記事すべて表示
Breathe In, Breathe Out
VOGUE India

Breathe In, Breathe Out

A powerful tool to help you master your nervous system or another biohacking buzzword? SIMONE DHONDY explores the inhalations and exhalations of breathwork

time-read
4 分  |
November - December 2024
Red Pill, Blue Pill
VOGUE India

Red Pill, Blue Pill

India's nutraceutical industry is booming thanks to advanced technology, distrust of the medical system and rising vanity. With multivitamins becoming purer and more effective, NIDHI GUPTA finds out if supplements have become the new serum

time-read
4 分  |
November - December 2024
Sign of the times
VOGUE India

Sign of the times

No longer do you need to have an answer to, \"What is the significance of this?\" when people point to your new tattoo. ARMAN KHAN discovers that everything is on the table when you get inked temporarily

time-read
3 分  |
November - December 2024
Return to form
VOGUE India

Return to form

Watching the world's most elite athletes deliver the best performances of their careers rekindled SONAKSHI SHARMA's own love for sports

time-read
3 分  |
November - December 2024
Dimple, All Day
VOGUE India

Dimple, All Day

YOU MAY HAVE WATCHED HER ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR OVER FIVE DECADES, BUT DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT YOU KNOW DIMPLE KAPADIA.

time-read
9 分  |
November - December 2024
MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL
VOGUE India

MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL

As someone who had always sought safety in numbers, ALIZA FATMA often wondered what her own company would feel like. The answer arrived unexpectedly when she attended her first-ever music festival, one of the largest in the world, all alone

time-read
3 分  |
November - December 2024
Let it grow
VOGUE India

Let it grow

When we think of hardworking farmers toiling in India's scorching heat, we often think of men, the sweat on their brow, the sinews in their arms. JYOTI KUMARI speaks to four women who are championing the invisible female labour that keeps these fields running

time-read
5 分  |
November - December 2024
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE
VOGUE India

YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE

When armless archer Sheetal Devi set her sights on the Paralympic Games this year, she knew she had a tough journey ahead of her. Luckily, her mother was with her every step of the way.

time-read
5 分  |
November - December 2024
Beauty and the feast
VOGUE India

Beauty and the feast

The appeal of Indian weddings has always been in a sprawling spread. For additional bragging rights, Aditi Dugar recommends going beyond designer tablecloths and monogrammed napkins.

time-read
1 min  |
November - December 2024
Sweet serendipity
VOGUE India

Sweet serendipity

From a scavenger hunt-inspired proposal to a Moroccan-themed baraat, Malvika Raj and Armaan Rai's love story prioritised playfulness throughout their blended celebrations.

time-read
4 分  |
November - December 2024