In the space of two months I have visited two art exhibitions. While this is not a new thing, I do enjoy visiting art exhibitions, what was new was the content and focus of them. Both were expressions of Indo-Caribbean life and art, very different from each other but both very important to have in our space.

The first was “The Botanical Afterlife of Indenture: Imaginative Archives” exhibition held at the The Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago. 

My partner, a cousin and I visited on June 19th - a day which was both Labour Day and Corpus Christi - the perfect day for this exhibition which reimagined Indo-Caribbean histories; feminine practices of beauty; agricultural traditions; women’s care and labour; and the legacy of seeds, cuttings, and flora brought by indentured Indian women in their jahaji bundles.

I remember when Vinay of The Cutlass Magazine (IG / FB) put out a call for submissions, of plants, fruits and vegetables, for a collaborative project with The Institute of Gender and Development Studies at the UWI aimed at showing the link to the land and nature that has been inherited from our East Indian ancestors. When this exhibition was announced, with a video installation created by Nicola Cross from those submissions included as part of it, I knew that I wanted to attend.

This is part of my history and my story. I dressed in a sari that has been passed on to me, and reminds me of my grandmother.

When we arrived, the flow and beauty of the space - curated and designed by Melanie Archer - invited us in. In the stories told by the godnas and art designed by Portia Subran, the jewellery inspired by 19th century portraits of Indian women throughout the Caribbean, the mehendi by Risa Raghunanan-Mohanned of Henna Trinidad, photos created by Abigail Hadeed, and the overall concept by Dr. Gabrielle Hosein, I felt my grandparents and great grandparents, it was all so familiar.

This art and exhibition is important because it creates visuals for stories we have heard but not been able to see, for experiences lived but unable to be expressed. It is my hope that this represents the beginning of more such collaborations and exhibitions.

The second was Portia Subran’s first solo exhibition, “The Hollows”, an exploration of changing Caribbean attitudes on agriculture, through a gothic lens.

I have been familiar with Portia’s work for over a decade now, and have commissioned pieces from her that were housed in our former studio space and are now in my home. It’s been very inspiring to see her work, ideas and concepts, develop over this time.

At first I was unsure that I would be able to attend her exhibition but, thanks to friends visiting from abroad and an organised group lime, I did. I am forever thankful that I did not miss it as it was such a personal and heartfelt sharing, in a deeply beautiful and creative way. Her pieces spoke to personal experiences of living life as a woman in T&T, of suffering and healing, and connections to labour, land and legacy.

From the Newsday article about her exhibition: “The exhibition centres women. Most of the subjects are either woman, bird or plant – some, are all three. Subran sees the land as highly important to the survival and safekeeping of all TT people.”

The launch of this exhibition also coincided with her launch of The Shrouds Wearable Art Collection, a limited line of illustrated t-shirts, which allows persons greater access to her art.

Where the first exhibition felt very academic, very much an opening for Indo-Caribbean narratives in the wider landscape of Caribbean art and history, the second exhibition felt very grounded in the lived experiences of both our past and present realities.

This is a long post but I thought it was so interesting that these two exhibitions came so close together. What will be the impact of this knowledge, and these experiences, moving more into our public consciousness? What seeds have sprouted? What has been sown?

Peace,

Renee Arundhati

Links of interest:

Hosein, G. J. (2024). The botanical afterlife of indenture: Mehndi as imaginative visual archive. Journal of Indentureship and Its Legacies, 4(1), 61–93.

Mendes-Franco, J. (2025). Reimagining Caribbean indenture in an artistically botanical afterlife. Global Voices.

IGDS St. Augustine Unit, The University of the West Indies. (2025) Indian Inheritances Across and Beyond Caribbean Geographies | Screening and Conversation Via Zoom, posted on IGDS YouTube Channel. 

Ali, H. (2025) Portia Subran gets personal with The Hollows. Trinidad and Tobago Newsday online.