In my installation Black Gold (2025), I trace the politico-economic valuations of black pepper across centuries:
from its use as currency in the medieval Roman Empire, to its status as a luxury commodity whose acquisition
and clandestine trade once shaped global power dynamics, and finally to its origin in India’s nodal Malabar
Coast—a region that drew Western maritime expeditions eastward and ushered in successive waves of
colonialist. Mellow sea sounds and the sharp scent of peppercorns permeate the installation, activating
traditional modes of pepper cultivation and distribution through displays of wooden harvesting ladders from
Kerala, vials of spice samples, ship fragments, and maritime artifacts.
I situate the local social histories of pepper within the broader intercontinental networks it generated through
sail-shaped, suspended fabric panels that reference territorial histories and cultural exchanges catalysed by trade routes.

Panels composed of colonially exploited and uprooted materials, muslin, silk, and jamdani are
embroidered with maps that highlight the Western overland construct of the Silk Route and the ancient maritime
corridor of the Golden Road. These routes, centralising India’s role, connected Asia, the Middle East, Africa,
and Europe.
Through Black Gold, I map evolving socio-political cartographies using objects, everyday ingredients,
imperially subjugated materials, and historical documents. The installation invites viewers to navigate
fragmented and cautionary histories traces of the past that continue to shape the present.

Read More