HIMMAT: CELEBRATING THE WOMEN AROUND US

May 19, 2019 @ The Playground in Chinatown, Vancouver Canada

Now Back Online

A woman in traditional South Asian attire kneels on the floor, painting a colorful rangoli design with paints and brushes, in a room with chairs and a table covered with a patterned cloth, celebrating South Asian women's strength.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

HIMMAT: Celebrating the Women Around Us was envisioned as a storytelling campaign rooted in love, memory, and justice. It began as a response to a simple but powerful question: Who are the South Asian women that raised, built, and held our communities — long before words like intersectionality or antiracism entered the mainstream?

What started as a quick social media call-in became a groundswell of stories — from aunties, elders, mothers, daughters — sharing the lived realities of navigating immigration, silence, survival, and cultural resilience in the Lower Mainland.

HIMMAT sought to deconstruct dominant narratives and illuminate the complexities of South Asian womanhood across generations, class, and caste.

The exhibit became a signature event, deeply informed by event planning, community curation, and creative direction. For many, it was the first time South Asian women were given a public and creative platform to share personal histories — holding space for truth, tenderness, and collective remembering.

Emerging Themes

Identity (self and relation to others), Community, Empathy, Self-Awareness, Strength, Feminine Power, Marriage, Motherhood, Foster Care, Adoption, Miscarriage, Domestic Violence, Sexism, Casteism, Racism, Misogyny / Patriarchy, Alcoholism & Drug Abuse

View the Exhibit

“We had warm hearts and bubbly intentions when we set out with the idea of this exhibit. Roohi and I had both grown up watching the South Asian women in our lives navigate so many different challenges as they built a life for us. We had to honour that in some way.

What ended up happening was beyond our imaginations. We had the most incredible women respond to a call in. We documented stories holding gleeful joy, innocence and curiosity, heartbreak and self-doubt, new experiences, exhilarating adventure and incredible losses.

We stand on the shoulders of giants. And we are incredibly lucky to celebrate the strength and tenacity of the women around us.”

– Jagreet Dhadli, Exhibit Co-Producer

Two women happily embracing at a social event, one holding a drink, with people in the background.

thank you

  • 01.

    We would lik to thank Joe Carlson for his gracious photography and for capturing the essence of such a magical evning.

  • 02.

    We would like to acknowledge that we created, developed, and showcased this exhibit on the on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations

  • 03.

    We would like to thank the residents and community of Chinatown, Vancouver for hosting us in their neighbourhood space. We continue to strive to host our events in community owned venues that promote economic flow into local businesses.

  • 04.

    We would like to thank our project participants for believing in us and sharing their stories. We 🤍 you!

Exhibit impact

  • 1 day pop up exhibit

  • 11 project participants

  • 91 guests

  • 13 event sponsors

  • 432K social media impressions

  • 14 volunteers

  • 15,726 exhibit online visits since August 2019

  • $1.5K budget

  • $4K in-kind donations

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"The event was a groundbreaking success and impactful to the community-at-large. It was the first event to give a creative and vocal platform for multigenerational South Asian women to share their personal stories to uplift collective memory. It was a true labour of love, honouring the rich contributions of Canadians of South Asian descent."

– Carla Chambers, The Embers Lab/Her Voice in Black

thank you to our sponsors And Community Partners

We would not have been able to make a monumental difference in the way South Asian storytelling is produced in Vancouver without our sponsors, supporters & donors.

Logos of various businesses including Dont Doze, SFU, Real Canadian Superstore, IKEA, and Sherry's Sweeteas & Restaurant.

HIMMAT was — and remains — a bold act of cultural stewardship.

A tribute to our matriarchs.

A reclamation of voice.

A refusal to let our stories be forgotten.

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  • Overcaste Exhibit: Truth in motion

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    We co-developed Zikulu’s strategy, design, and content — translating African Friendship Society’s teachings into a digital platform. From heritage-based quizzes to legal frameworks, we built a legacy-rooted learning ecosystem.

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