Khwab-e-Rafu translates to ‘Dreams of Mending’. It is a cross-border tapestry inviting people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, as well as diaspora communities across the world, to stitch their dreams of a healed, peaceful future… A future that dares to imagine beyond the scars of Partition and the wounds of ongoing conflict in the region.

 

This project was seeded at a critical moment. In May 2025, India and Pakistan were on the brink of war. India was also witnessing a disturbing trend of militarist agendas co-opting feminist language to justify violence and conflict. Khwab-e-Rafu directly challenges this by reclaiming feminist values of care, repair, and solidarity as radical acts of peace-building.

 

The tapestry began at midnight on August 14/15, 2025, the moment of Partition, and will conclude on the 80th anniversary of Partition in August 2027. In these two years, the Rafunaama team and global artist collaborators have reached out to over 100 people India, Pakistan, USA, the UK, and beyond have added their dreams to the growing cloth.  

 

Khwab-e-rafu, like the act of mending itself, works with what is torn, thread by thread, until something whole emerges that carries the memory of what was broken. And it exists because of the people and organisations who opened their doors, their communities, and their hearts to this work. 

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Project Collaborators -

 

Ahwar  |  Amber Zia  |  Ananya Jain / Shor Series  |  Ashlin Sara Paul  |  Madhuri Adwani  |  Ritu Dua  |  Sabba S. Elahi  | Sajil K  |  Savneet Talwar  |  Tilyan Aslam  |  Zmayet