Chai: The Making and Unmaking

A study on the material ecology of chai, exploring its historical, cultural, and environmental history and implications- documented alongside the process of making a cup. Using imagery of myself making a cup of chai, with imagery of my mother doing so, this zine represents the intense generational importance of chai as a cultural drink. The images are digitally edited in Adobe Photoshop, layered with cyanotypes of related objects, such as a tea bag, a traditional necklace given to me by my mother, etc. One image is also layered with a photonegative of a picture I took in India. The interplay of physical documentation and teachings of cultural reference, coincides with research and education of the external implications of chai, to depict the complexities of cultural objects in an interactive and intriguing format.