Paridhi Mundra
BE_Ravista.jpg

Broken Englizh

A set of illustrations created for ‘Broken Englizh’, a literary initiative run by friend and fellow Visual Communicator, Ravista Mehra.

‘Broken Englizh’ is a collection of personal essays that explores ‘the power of first person narrative’ in a postcolonial world. What shifts when marginalised voices are able to tell their own story? And when the historical and the cultural are viewed through the lens of the oppressed rather than the oppressor? These essays dismantle the notion of a singular narrative and embrace the multiplicity of different perspective.

AD | Ravista Mehra

‘Broken Plates’ is a series of illustrations created in response to the essays, with each plate corresponding to an individual personal narrative.

The illustrations as plates is a nod to our relationship with memorabilia - the history of racist memorabilia to our present obsession with them. (I was reminded of travel souvenirs, stripped away of all complexity and flattened to a visualisation of the most obvious and cliched cultural markers of a place and people). These plates reflect the lingering stereotypes & hurtful sentiments that the authors of the essays confront with. The breaking of the plate visually then is about breaking away from the misconceptions and prejudices that arise from the narrow-mindedness of the ‘one story fits all’ view of the world. 

Below are a selection of twelve plate illustrations from twenty six narratives.

Photo Credited to Sold Out Publishing

‘Broken Englizh’ was first conceived by Ravista for her Master’s Thesis at Royal College of Arts, London. It now exists as an online platform with a growing contribution of narratives and as a physical publication, which can be purchased through Sold Out Publishing.