The Grace of Four Moons: Bodily Adornment in India Today
In this lecture, Shukla looks at dress and adornment in contemporary India, taking us to the holy city of Banaras where makers – goldsmiths and sari weavers – interact with merchants and the female customers who create art on their bodies. Investigating the male realms of production and commerce, in addition to the female realm of creative adornment, she conceptualizes a total model for the study of body art, tracing — in a certain time and place, with regard to a particular sphere of material culture — an artifactual life history.