Title: The Kitchen as a Knowledge System: Love, Labour and Recognition Through
Doshi Ma nu Vaidya Author: Naisargi Buch
Master of Arts in Fine Art & Design Pathway: Situated Design Thesis Supervisors : Ollie Palmer, Martón Kabai Submitted to Master Fine Art & Design, St. Joost School of Art & Design, Avans University of Applied Sciences, s'-Hertogenbosch The Netherlands In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art in Fine Art & Design s'-Hertogenbosch The Netherlands
Abstract This thesis examines the kitchen as a disputed space— constructed as a site of women’s oppression, unpaid labor, and risk, while simultaneously functioning as a space of care, knowledge, and embodied practice. Being situated within the context of Indian domestic life, this research investigates how the kitchen can be reinterpreted through feminist design methodologies without erasing its structural integrity. Drawing from the colloquial concept from my native tongue, of Doshi Mā nu Vaidya [Doshi= Grandma, Vaidya= Knowledge] —a term referring to intergenerational, woman-led healing practices—this essay positions domestic cooking as a form of situated knowledge. Parallelly, the term Lakadyu Vaidya [ Lakadyu= Wood], referring to the traditional wooden spice box and its associated practices, is included to frame the material exploration of this system. Together, these concepts show a dual framework of embodied knowledge and material archiving methods. Through a combination of personal narrative, participatory research, and material exploration, it investigates how knowledge is transmitted and recognized within domestic spaces. It argues that domestic practices operate as forms of preventive care and adaptive expertise, while being critical of the risks of both institutionalizing and romanticizing such knowledge within borders of caste, gender, and labor hierarchies. By recontextualizing the language used to describe domestic labor—from “selflessness” and “love” to “skill,” “labor,” and “expertise”—this work proposes a shift in how care is recognized and valued. The resulting design practice translates these ideas into an installation using video work, prints and wooden cutting boards as sites of repeated marks and stories, showing the tension between labor, memory, and knowledge.