Kaajel Patel showcases her artworks at Quetzal Stories of Change

Kaajel Patel is a London based dancer, visual artist, set designer, & actor. She has training in Bollywood and some Indian classical dance (Kathak). She is also a theatre and film set designer. As a dancer she performs professionally and teaches fresh takes on Bollywood, Indian Classical dance & Cabaret. Kaajel‘s artworks as a visual artist are influenced by her upbringing in an Indian household, the feminine divine as well her experience in theatre & cabaret.

She teaches dance & painting classes and runs a plethora of different creative in person and online workshops. She is a cabaret performer with The Bitten Peach, a queer Pan-Asian performance collective.

This series is titled ‘Brushed under the rug’ and deals with how often in communities abuse is hidden within the home. Too often victims of sexual & domestic abuse are made to feel shame and fear for speaking out. Here we have two different individuals from differing asian households that have quite literally been swept under the rug. This awkward depiction in a domestic setting shows how these issues should not be ignored & how common these struggles are.

Kaajel herslef is a survivor of sexual abuse as a child. She was abused in a dance group she had been attending from a young age.  Her abuse was brushed under the rug in attempt to make the issue ‘disappear’ for the by-standing adults and perpetrator. She found her own power again through art & dance which lead her into expanding her creative field & forming her career.