Their fragility is their strength. Their strength is their fragility. At the heart of the set design for the Dior autumn-winter 2024-2025 ready-to-wear défilé, shimmering in golden light, the armatures appeared like strange, dreamlike suits of armour to clothe the body. Entitled Of Bodies, Armour and Cages, these creations were the brainchild of the Mumbai-based Indian artist Shakuntala Kulkarni^*. Her “experimentation” began in 2010, by creating these structures herself and leaving them motionless in places where she had spent her childhood and where a certain way of life was disappearing. It was a way of expressing her role metaphorically as protector of tradition, history and culture.

Shakuntala Kulkarni was brought up in an open, free atmosphere: “My parents and grandparents were educated and forward-looking. We three sisters didn’t suffer any discrimination among our family and friends. Our parents encouraged us to take up sport, the arts and Indian classical dance. I tried my hand at the performing arts, especially intimate theatre, which I loved, as well as drawing and painting.” Over time, that privileged environment led to an awareness of the precarious status of women. “It was by listening to my friends and through my personal experiences that I began to observe how, because of constraints and discrimination, at different stages women experience frustration, discomfort, disempowerment… I wanted to examine how objectification can lead to atrocities and physical violence against women, provoking fear of moving freely in private and public spaces. It was necessary to respond to those concerns by expanding my artistic practice, choosing several mediums and disciplines, and conceiving interactive works.”