WOMANIFESTO

Fabric as Social Identity — کون؟ کہاں؟ کیوں؟ (Who? Where? Why?) Led by Professor Kiran Khan, Head of Textile, Fashion & Accessories at MD-SVAD, the WeMend Project was presented at the Lahore Biennale Foundation (LBF 03) in collaboration with Womanifesto – International Art Exchange. The installation, titled Fabric as Social Identity, was curated at the historic YMCA Hall in Lahore and brought together over 67 fibre artists, students and faculty of BNU, artisans from Kaarvan Crafts Foundation, Baazyaft, Tarogil village, and members of differently-abled communities. Together, they stitched, embroidered, and upcycled fabric into a seventy-foot-long communal piece that reflected Lahore's diverse cultural identity. Rooted in the city's history and symbolism of YMCA as a place of inclusivity, the installation wove together three overarching narratives: Kaun (Who?) — personal stories, Kahan (Where?) — intergenerational stories, and Kyun (Why?) — political stories. Through this communal fabric, Kiran Khan emphasized textiles as carriers of memory, history, and resilience, stitching together individual voices into a collective social identity.