GOLDEN AFFECTION
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website: ragavee-b.myportfolio.com/work
Ragavee Balendran
Long Gallery, Hat Factory Arts Centre · July–August 2026
Golden Affection was a solo exhibition by illustrator Ragavee Balendran, presented in the Long Gallery during July and August 2026.
The exhibition brought together a series of vibrant monoprints exploring the personal and cultural significance of gold jewellery within South Asian families. At the centre of the work was the relationship between inheritance and memory, considering how an object passed from one generation to another can carry meanings that extend far beyond its material value.
Drawing on her British and Tamil-Sri Lankan heritage, Ragavee used printmaking to explore the connections between family, identity and cultural tradition. The works moved between personal remembrance and a wider reflection on the experiences and traditions of South Asian women, giving the collection both an intimate and intergenerational quality.
The exhibition was also an opportunity to encounter Ragavee’s developing creative practice and the way she translated a deeply personal story into a visual body of work. A Creative Exchange event held alongside the exhibition gave visitors the opportunity to hear directly from the artist about the work, its influences and the story behind its creation.
Golden Affection formed part of the programme at Hat Factory Arts Centre during summer 2026.
Ragavee, an illustrator who creates bold, vibrant work inspired by my British and Tamil-Sri Lankan heritage. My art reflects the richness of the diverse community around me and is deeply influenced by cultural and social themes from both South Asian and British perspectives. I love combining these influences to create playful, colourful pieces that celebrate identity, heritage, and everyday life.
This project is a love letter to Ragavee Balendran’s mother.
Before her mothers passing, her mother had given her collection of gold jewellery, a physical collection of financial security. A tradition passed down in the community of South Asian women, where historically they once had no assets of their own, had used jewellery as a commodity to help invest in any financial crisis. In my mother’s eyes, this was her way of looking after me after her passing. However, for me, this collection was an embodiment of her legacy and a sign of love from my mother.
I created a series of prints highlighting the tradition of passing gold jewellery and the duality of commodity and sentimental value passed through each generation of women. It illustrates the older generations’ view of gold jewellery being sold and used as an emergency fund in a crisis, to the new generations valuing the emotional embodiment of their mother and ancestors. These series of mono prints narrate this embodiment of love from the historical to the current significance gold jewellery has in South Asian women’s lives.
In memory of Malini Balendran.
