A String of Love

Reflections is a duo exhibition at Without Shape Without Form (WSWF) in September 2025, featuring new installation work by Roo Dhissou and paintings by artist Jasmir Creed.


Images by Tarun Wilkhu, 2025
More images to be included soon.


A String of Love, 2025 

Ash wood, cotton cord, hand-embellished silkscreen prints on polished brass

Commissioned by without SHAPE without FORM 

Her primary contribution, titled A String of Love, is an immersive installation that brings together sound, light, and indigenous Punjabi craft. The work comprises a handwoven and hand-carved Manjha, a suspended constellation of handmade clouds and stars, and a series of cloud-shaped Manji beds—traditional South Asian charpoys reimagined as sculptural forms for communal gathering, rest, and reflection. These Manjis, constructed from chamfered plywood and arranged beneath a sky-like canopy, incorporate curved brass elements and cotton weaving, inviting viewers into a shared space of care and contemplation.


Music composed by Saro Manoukian, Roo playing Taus - Raag Asa. 



The installation draws inspiration from the concept of Riyaaz—a continuous and disciplined practice of an art form, whether through music, voice, prayer, or craft. Roo’s ongoing learning of the Taus, shaped by teachings from family, friends, YouTube makers, and the broader Sikh community, informs her artistic process. A String of Love becomes both a physical and spiritual reflection of Simran, Sikhi, and the pursuit of deeper connection—through music, community, and devotion. The title speaks to the strings of music that connect us to the divine, and the woven threads of the Manjhathat symbolically bind us to one another.



Also included in the exhibition is Heal, Home, Hmmm, a newly commissioned sculptural pavilion by Roo Dhissou for the V&A’s London Design Festival 2025. Constructed using clay excavated from HS2 sites and built with traditional mud building techniques, this work examines how access, care, and environmental responsibility shape the structures we build—physically, socially, and spiritually. The pavilion will be on display at the V&A and accompanied by performance, sound, and public programming, extending Dhissou’s exploration of material, memory, and collective healing.

Together, these works offer a meditative and grounded reflection on making as devotion, structure as care, and the continuous, collective threads that weave us into being.