Photographed in Ahmedabad, India, this short film follows a Dalit woman step by step as she makes a bean-bag parrot from fabric scraps and other discarded materials scavenged from trash receptacles and the city’s streets. Tender and restrained, this clear-eyed portrait of individuals in a community is also a poignant testament to the power of art-making even in some of the most adverse conditions. The director Yvonne Hannemann received a Fulbright Grant to document folk culture in India and Sri Lanka. She later worked with the filmmakers Albert and David Maysles.
Launched in 2020 as part of The Met’s 150th anniversary year, From the Vaults is a series that presents materials from the Museum’s extensive audiovisual holdings with the public. The Met’s moving-image archive, which comprises over 1,500 films, spans from the 1920s onward and includes rarely seen artist profiles and documentaries, as well as process films about art-making techniques and behind-the-scenes footage.
