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Dowry Darlings

Shruti Gola

Profile picture of Shruti Gola

Multidisciplinary art director that aims for story telling & problem solving through integral brand value systems while prioritizing authentic cultural representation for better futures. Specializing in research and ideation to curate design languages with strong visual aesthetics and communication. Drawing inspiration fueled by an eye for fashion, films and collaboration with new people.

Multidisciplinary art director that aims for story telling & problem solving through in...

Dowry Darlings is a short music video exploring the intergenerational trauma embedded within South Asian marriages and how it's evolving in newer marriages today; a cycle of silence, sacrifice, and survival passed down through women. Framed through the female gaze, the film reimagines traditional rituals of beauty and adornment as acts of quiet rebellion. It depicts the way newer generations learn to design their own relationships and find solidarity within systems that contain them. It questions the dowry system and the romanticisation of suffering, envisioning a world where women help each other unlearn obedience and reauthor their own narratives of love, loss, and liberation.

Final work

  • A woman in traditional indian jewlwery in a set made by various kinds of Indian textiles
  • A woman in a saree and a kaleidoscope of traditional Indian jewelry from various parts of the region, posing infront of layers of Indian textiles.
A music video about two South Asian women navigating the societal pressures of performing their womanly duties in a marriage.

Dowry Darlings Music Video

View the official video here :

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1crDNEcnElxYUqvRSSxtKzg3rU-2G_Hm8/view?usp=share_link

Research and process

  • Indian wedding set, vintage indian jewelry
  • Archival South Asian wedding imagery, Wedding set, Archival Jewelry

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Dowry Darlings

Dowry Darlings is a short music video exploring the intergenerational trauma embedded within South Asian marriages and how it's evolving in newer marriages today; a cycle of silence, sacrifice, and survival passed down through women. Framed through the female gaze, the f...

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