# @rubinmuseum on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DRzqZv_jyCL
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/37560459-rubinmuseum-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/795eef7f09.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-12-03T16:00:11.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art (@rubinmuseum) — https://gondola.cc/rubinmuseum

## Caption

"There’s something deeply unsettling about the way we are taught to see art, as if it floats above history, above labor, above the body. Growing up in India, I seldom heard the word 'art' spoken in my house. But I saw it everywhere. 

In the way my grandmother created products from waste. In the way she and her friends stitched stories into old sarees to make quilts, curtains, television covers. In the way my grandfather bound books. In the way my family made shoes, painted rickshaws and walls. In the way hands—brown, cracked, tired—carved, built, painted, wove.

But those things were never called 'art.' They were chores. Culture. Utility. Survival. They were 'craft.' Not even design. And then I entered art spaces. Studied design. And everything flipped."

Intrigued? Keep reading! You can find Siddhesh Gautam's essay "The Dangerous Binary of Art and Craft" in Spiral, the Rubin's multimedia publication, via the 🔗 in bio.

Siddhesh Gautam is a Delhi-based, multidiscipline, mixed-media artist, designer, writer, poet, dreamer, storyteller, and an Ambedkarite. His work is currently focused on the visual documentation of the anti-caste movement, global warming, and gender equality. His work has been published by the BBC, The Guardian, The Wire, and The Hindu, among others. He has also worked with and given lectures and talks at various universities and colleges, including Stanford University, University of Washington, Oxford University, SOAS University of London, University of Vienna, and International Institute of Social Studies, Hague.

#SiddeshGautam #Spiral #RubinMuseum #RubinGlobal #HimalayanArt
__________
Siddhesh Gautam; Who Dictates What I Create; 2024; courtesy of the artist

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## Tags

rubinmuseum, siddeshgautam, rubinglobal, himalayanart, spiral

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