What do you SAY?

By: Aru Kaul

The South Asian Yard (SAY) is bringing young Brown voices to the forefront of arts and culture with their first in-person event happening on Aug. 19.

Founded in 2021 by TMU social work alumni Ria Arora, SAY is a non-profit organization with the mission to empower all second-generation South Asian Canadians through initiatives that foster a sense of connection and belonging in the South Asian community.

“As a young Indian woman, I’ve experienced the identity crossroads of being a Brown woman in a White society, such as not knowing my mother tongue and being labelled as the ‘rebellious’ child,” says Arora.

Arora says she created this organization for people with similar experiences to explore their identities without the pressure to label or justify the choices behind their identity.

SAY’s in-person launch allows young South Asians pursuing creative fields to promote their work. 

TalkBicultural, a past initiative of SAY, spotlighted five South Asian women and their platforms as well as addressed issues in the South Asian community from their perspective including mental health, gender roles and academic pressure. Arora has the same goal for the launch, with the added benefit of an in-person setting. 

“The whole point of our launch is to let people know that we do exist and that there is an existing space that works to address this issue,” Arora said. 

The SAY team also consists of the project director Archanaa Tharumanayagam and creative director and community outreach coordinator Mahira Khan who both develop initiatives for the South Asian community. Both Khan and Tharumanayagam’s personal experiences have an impact on their work. Tharumanayagam’s work is influenced by the representation of dark-skinned women in film, TV and music while Khan’s work is influenced by the value of space and place in shaping one’s identity and future.

“As a Pakistani-Canadian who immigrated to Scarborough, struggles of identity were strong within my childhood,” Khan said.

And while the South Asian community makes up the largest racialized group in Canada, the multiplicity of marginalization for South Asian, dark-skinned women create a more vulnerable and intersectional social location of oppression. 

“I was often told to not go outside in the sun, put on skin lightening creams and that I was ‘pretty for a dark-skinned girl’,” Tharumanayagam said.

The launch will take place at Clubhouse Toronto from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and will feature a pop up market with items like South Asian themed journals, candles and novels written by South Asian authors.

Some of the South Asian creatives attendees can expect to see are: Trish Kapilan, a Sri Lankan Tamil artist and fashion student at TMU, who tells stories about Tamil identities and how their experiences unite the community using her art, Ari Para, a queer and nonbinary artist, writer and ESL teacher who sells polymer clay jewelry, LGBTQ+ books and zines and will be offering tarot readings at their table and Ashwini T, a Sri Lankan Tamil artist and fashion student at TMU who creates zines based on the scenery around her.

Tickets for the launch are available on SAY’s Instagram page @southasianyardofficial for $30. Complimentary refreshments will be available.