Wants, Needs, and Desires: Feminist Archives at the Forefront

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Veera Rustomji reflects on the experience of researching and archiving SHE and the importance of retelling and stories and legacies of women-led publications.

Veera Rustomji comments on her experience in researching and archiving SHE for the Karachi Biennale 2024 E-Catalogue:

“One has to wonder, what are the motivations and narratives used by contemporary South Asians today to capture and document our own histories and complex cultures? 

In 1963, a magazine titled She – Journal for the Home hit the newsstands of East and West Pakistan. It was founded and edited by LSE graduate Zuhra Karim (at that time, Kureishi), and its covers conveyed a creative, prosperous, and modern Pakistan. Block-print bell-bottom outfits, stories of triumphant women across the country (mostly from the epicenters of Karachi and Lahore), and critical articles on the state were splashed across the headlines and covers of She in the 1960s…

In my research and archiving of She, I was consistently reminded of how women’s voices in Pakistan have not only been sidelined in policymaking but also face labelling and stereotyping even within the upper echelons of art and design circles.”

This article can be read in full at: https://karachibiennale.org.pk/kb24-catalogue/