Spinning Drones: Where the Charkha Becomes a Sonic Weapon of Feminist Resistance

This May in Delhi, something intimate and quietly radical will unfold inside a gallery basement in Defence Colony. No protest slogans. No placards. Just thread, touch, sound, and a spinning wheel.

On the evening of 18th May 2025, Method Delhi will host a performance that defies genre, borders, and time. Titled Spinning Drones, this collaborative work by Smiha Kapoor (India) and Eva Ursprung (Austria) isn’t just another installation. It’s an immersive act of memory, resistance, and collective care—staged through the sonic transformation of India’s humble yet powerful charkha.

You read that right. The same spinning wheel Mahatma Gandhi once used as a symbol of anti-colonial self-reliance has been reimagined as a sonic instrument—and not metaphorically. Through contact microphones, foot pedals, and braided threads that physically connect both artists, Spinning Drones brings together ancestral craft and contemporary sound art in a way that’s tactile, raw, and emotional.

To fully understand the soul of this work, you need to know where it comes from. Kapoor and Ursprung didn’t just pull a concept from thin air. The work draws directly from the Trinjan traditions of Punjab—evenings when women would gather to spin thread, sing songs, and share oral histories. It was a quiet but essential practice of interdependence, healing, and knowledge-sharing. That energy flows into Spinning Drones—not nostalgically, but with urgency.

At the heart of the performance, two artists sit tethered by a braided thread. The charkha spins. Sounds pulse, build, loop. As Kapoor and Ursprung interact with the spinning wheel and modified tools, their movements generate live soundscapes—sometimes drone-like, sometimes melodic, always textured. Through technology, the old wheel becomes a vessel of feminist resistance, embodying labour, intimacy, and the act of making as a political gesture.

This isn’t a passive show. The audience is meant to listen closely, feel the vibrations, watch each motion. Nothing here is for spectacle. Everything is for connection.

Beyond the performance itself, the space will be filled with interactive installations that continue the conversation between body, material, and memory. There are sculptures wrapped in water-sensitive fabric, designed to react to human contact. Every touch leaves behind a transient ink-like trace—a poetic but deliberate comment on impermanence and presence.

Also part of the experience are "spindle flowers", submerged in water across the exhibition space. They aren’t just decorative. They symbolize the regenerative, cyclical nature of craft, life, and care—things broken down and re-formed again and again. They add another layer to the installation’s emotional palette.

Nothing in Spinning Drones is ornamental. Every detail serves a function—either sonic, symbolic, or participatory. That’s what makes this more than an art show. It’s a live experiment in presence, co-creation, and feminist imagination.

This collaboration is especially compelling because of the backgrounds of the two artists involved. They come from different generations, geographies, and practices—but find common ground in their commitment to feminist, socially engaged work.

Smiha Kapoor, based in India, works across performance, drawing, site-specific art, and participatory processes. Her art tends to begin in the body but opens into collective experience. She’s shown her work internationally—at NUS Museum, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, and Schauspielhaus Graz, among others—and is known for creating environments where participation is not only invited but required. Her work often centers on embodied feminist knowledge—how care, resistance, and resilience live within and between bodies.

Eva Ursprung, based in Austria, has been a vital part of feminist media and sound art since the 1980s. A founder of the magazine Eva & Co, she helped carve out space for women’s voices in Austria’s cultural scene. She’s also on the board of IMA (Institute for Media Archaeology) and has worked extensively with UpStage, a platform for online performance. Ursprung’s work is often critical of how technology interacts with the body and society, but she never isolates art from community. Through initiatives like Schaumbad – Freies Atelierhaus Graz, she’s championed collective creative spaces.

Together, Kapoor and Ursprung aren’t just making sound. They’re spinning resistance from thread and tech, intimacy and memory.

In a world marked by increasing political censorship, ecological collapse, and fractured communities, Spinning Drones feels timely—and necessary. It asks audiences to slow down. To pay attention. To understand that resistance isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it’s the quiet spin of a wheel, the echo of a drone, the act of reaching out and making something with your hands.

It also opens up a powerful question: What does feminist resistance look like in 2025? It may not come in the form of rallies and protests alone. It might also come through the revival of shared labour, through acts of remembrance, and through deep listening. This work offers an alternative vocabulary of protest—one built not on confrontation but on care, connection, and sound.

With locations in Mumbai and New Delhi, Method is more than a gallery—it’s a cultural platform built for experimentation, collaboration, and breaking away from the expected. Known for its openness to interdisciplinary work and politically urgent themes, Method continues to support artists who push the boundaries of art as we know it. It’s the perfect setting for a work like Spinning Drones—one that defies easy classification and invites you to listen, not just look.

Event Details

Spinning Drones: A Sonic Reimagining of Feminist Resistance and Collective CareBy Smiha Kapoor (India) & Eva Ursprung (Austria)

Venue: Method Delhi, D Block, Basement, D-59, Block D, Defence Colony, New Delhi-110024

Date: 18th May 2025

 Time: 7 PM onwards

(If you're redefining the world of art, decor, beauty, fashion, food, or books, or hosting an event that deserves to be noticed, we’d love to hear from you. Our editorial desk is open to receiving press releases, product samples, review books, and event invites that align with our editorial vision. Reach out to us at styleessentials.in@gmail.com to collaborate or send your materials for consideration.)