καιρός remembered

A reflection

In her installation ‘Black Gold’ at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Yasmin Jahan Nupur has charted the economic significance of black pepper throughout the centuries. Along with this significance, she has also traced the trade routes by land and sea, and the colonial domination by Europe of overseas territories where this ‘black gold’ was found.

The installation, however, is not black but predominantly coloured in the blue of the sea, featuring a large number of old world maps and trade routes printed on cotton cloths. The familiar image of a slave ship – another form of black gold – had also found its way into the installation.

The girl and the boy in the corner of the room, next to the piece of fabric with the slave ship, inspired me to take this photograph. Somehow, I associated their quiet, pensive presence with my own musings on this particularly dark chapter of colonial rule.

Photo of the week: Yasmin Jahan Nupur, ‘Black Gold’ (2025), Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India 2026