Salt Cosmologies

Location

Somerset House
Strand
London
WC2R 1LA

Description

This exhibition has has not opened yet

This exhibition runs from Thursday 20th February 2025 to Sunday 27th April 2025.


An ambitious multi-dimensional project by Hylozoic/Desires (Himali Singh Soin & David Soin Tappeser) exploring the complex weave of histories and myths around Britain’s imperial salt monopoly in India, featuring a striking open-air installation paired with a poignant indoor exhibition occupying spaces formerly used to administer Britain’s colonial-era salt tax.

Courtyard Installation: namak halal/namak haram

At the heart of the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, a fabric installation scaling 80 metres in length and 2 and a half meters in height will replicate the Inland Customs Line, a monumental 2500 mile-long ‘hedge’ composed of living vegetation created by the British to enforce salt taxation during colonial rule. This reinterpretation will feature organic cotton printed with botanical dyes from the hedge's original plants, juxtaposing colonial botanical order with chaotic stamps and termite motifs. The title of the installation ‘namak halal’ (in accordance with salt, a term used to describe a loyalist of the British Empire) and ‘namak haram’ (against the salt, a traitor of the Empire) equally highlights the hedge's dual nature as both an instrument of colonial extraction and a site of resistance to colonial occupation, as ideas of liberation were smuggled through and over the British-built barrier.

Prices

Free

Contact and Booking Details

More information at this website.

Upcoming Dates

This exhibition runs from Thursday 20th February 2025 to Sunday 27th April 2025.

Forthcoming dates:

Thu 20th Feb 2025 
(10:00am to 8:00pm - Late closing)
Fri 21st Feb 2025 
(10:00am to 8:00pm - Late closing)

Disclaimer

The information and prices in this listing are presumed to be correct at the time of publishing, but please always check with the venue before making a special trip.

All images are supplied by the exhibition organiser.

Somerset House
Strand
London
WC2R 1LA

Map

This exhibition runs from Thursday 20th February 2025 to Sunday 27th April 2025.

This event runs over several days/weeks. Dates include:

February 2025

March 2025

April 2025