Migrant Maharanis Organisation / Collective / Group

INFO

Name	Migrant Maharanis
Established	2022
Artform	Zines
Decades Active	2020s

ABOUT

Migrant Maharanis is a zine collective and activist community “dedicated to South Asian diaspora & migrants”. Established in 2022 by Anndiyva Ram (based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara) and Shruthi Priya Balaji (based in Tāmaki Makaurau), the collective uses social media infographics, zines, events, and gallery exhibitions to celebrate South Asian culture and challenge relevant issues within the community.

Migrant Maharanis was initially founded in 2022 by Anndiyva as an Instagram account (@migrantmaharanis) sharing Bollywood collages and posts about the South Asian diasporic experience. The idea grew out of Anndiyva’s feelings of isolation when moving to Te Whanganui-a-Tara for work. She comments that moving away from home led to moments of self reflection, particularly about cultural identity, and drove her to build a community to connect with. Anndiyva’s very first post reflects these feelings, stating that:

I first started this project as a means of empowering and validating my own experiences as a South Asian woman. Now, I am hoping to share this space with other Maharanis, who like myself, live in a home away from home (diaspora).

Shortly after launching the Instagram account, Shruthi reached out and expressed interest in being involved, citing her own feelings of isolation and cultural identity struggles. The collective began solely as an online space, sharing Instagram infographics about South Asian culture and diasporic experiences.

In late 2022, Migrant Maharanis collaborated with Migrant Zine Collective to conceptualise the first issue of Maharanis Gone Wild — an anthology zine that focused on empowering South Asian migrants and challenging cultural taboos around shame. Reflecting on the choice to use zinemaking as a medium for this work, both Shruthi and Anndiyva cite accessibility, autonomy, and community:

[Anndiyva]: It was accessible, it was easy to make, and there wasn’t a pressure to make it a certain way

[Shruthi]: and it’s a great way to meet like minded people and make new friends…

Maharanis Gone Wild was launched on the community table at the 2023 Auckland Zinefest and featured creative work from eleven South Asian creatives. It was one of the bestselling zines during the Zinefest and was subsequently awarded Best Activist Zine and Best Overall Zine.

Beyond zinemaking and social media activism, Migrant Maharanis is also involved in community events and exhibitions. In Oct 2023, the collective presented their first exhibition, Mukti — a selection of poetry, essays and visual art from Maharanis Gone Wild — at Kūwao Space in Tauranga Moana.

Mukti was described as “a curated space of cultural empowerment and liberation”. The collective has had a significant impact on South Asian youth since its inception. Shruthi comments:

we have had a lot of younger, South Asian diasporic women reach out to us and say, ‘oh my god this is so cool! Just knowing other people have the experiences, there’s no South Asian people at my school’. That’s the kind of stuff we want to facilitate, being the representation we wish we had growing up.