Kabir Singh - Creative
“I've found solace in realising how prominent and important queer people are/have been in many South Asian cultures. We are and have always been sacred.”
My name is Kabir Singh. I identify culturally as Sikh Punjabi and am heavily inspired by our core values of gender equality and the abolition of oppressive systems (such as the caste system and modern governments).
I live on Woi Wurrung (Kulin Nation) land in Naarm (Melbourne) and grew up on Noongar land in Boorloo (Perth). Until this year, I struggled to come to terms with my Punjabi identity. One main reason being that I feared rejection from my own people because of my own racist preconceptions about Punjabi culture not being compatible with being queer.
Growing up I always adored the sight of my family members dressed in colours of every hue. The glittering brilliance of a colour co-ordinated Maang Tikka and the quaint pops of colour in the form of my nanna and dhada - ji’s turbans. These memories bring me so much joy but they also bring me a lot of anxiety. Anxiety because I knew I didn’t fit into the expectations of being a Sikh boy.
At the start of this year, however, I began reconnecting with my Punjabi identity. I was fortunate enough to have the time to devote myself entirely to my studies and rediscovered a love and appreciation of culture and people through language. I began to research more about Punjabi and broader South Asian history and the issues that my people (who don’t have the privileges I do) face.
“We are more powerful and long standing than the current attitudes and preconceptions that seek to fit us into predetermined ideas of gender/sexuality. ”
From my personal struggle to come to terms with gender; I found myself drawn to the way in which Hinduism represents gender. The normalcy with which Hindu deities/avatars switch between or combine masculine and feminine forms/energy inspires me heavily and gives me a sense of validation that I have never felt from my own communities. The idea of bhakti or devotion through art as a way of worshipping deities/what the deity represents is particularly meaningful/empowering to me. I am (along with many gender-diverse South Asians) especially devoted to/inspired by Shiva.
Being a queer person, we are born into worlds upon worlds of oppressive binaries and cultures that have been warped to fit the lens of the oppressor. I've found solace in realising how prominent and important queer people are/have been in many South Asian cultures. We are and have always been sacred. However, in todays world trans people of colour are some of the most vilified and oppressed people (with further nuances like caste making things even worse).
“In a time where queer South Asians all over the world have the ability to be connected like never before; I believe we have the power to re-define and re-establish our identities. ”
I see it as our (South Asians with privilege such as caste, growing up in the west etc) collective duty to use our privilege to uplift and facilitate space for oppressed/gender diverse South Asians to be able to express themselves without fear of judgement. We are more powerful and long standing than the current attitudes and preconceptions that seek to fit us into predetermined ideas of gender/sexuality.
In a time where queer South Asians all over the world have the ability to be connected like never before; I believe we have the power to re-define and re-establish our identities.
We won't be silenced or erased, we'll only work towards being more community-minded, sensitively aware, and revolutionary. This has been the basis for my work.
Graphic design and headpieces are designed and made by me :)
Kabir Singh
Instagram @xx.punjabi.princess.xx
