Botanical Afterlife of IndentureCEFR A2
27 Jul 2025
Adapted from Janine Mendes-Franco, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Joao Vitor Marcilio, Unsplash
Gabrielle Hosein and photographer Abigail Hadeed created a collaborative exhibition called "The Botanical Afterlife of Indenture: Imaginative Archives." It ran at the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain from June 10 to 21, shortly after the 180th anniversary of Indian Arrival on May 30. The project took two years to make.
The starting point was an archival photograph of an Indian woman working on a Jamaican coconut plantation. That image inspired new photographs and visual work that pick out images history has often forgotten.
Hadeed used botanicals that people carried in jahajin bandals (cloth parcels) and combined movement, blurred visuals and still objects to suggest memory and continuity between past and present. The show also included film and mixed media and several collaborating artists.
Difficult words
- exhibition — public show of art or objects
- archival — related to old records or documents
- botanical — plants or things made from plantsbotanicals
- bandal — small cloth parcels people carrybandals
- continuity — connection between past and present
- plantation — large farm where crops grow
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Can photographs help people remember things history forgets? Why or why not?
- How do you think plants or objects can show a connection between past and present?
- Have you seen an art show with mixed media or film? What did you notice?
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