Bloodlines tells the untold journey of women taken from South India to South Africa as indentured labourers. Bloodlines remembers these women, and the generations that follow.
How are memories and trauma passed down, along with culture and tradition, to each generation? Bloodlines addresses the unacknowledged history and experiences of women taken as indentured labourers from South India to South Africa. These women’s stories are not generally known, as the history of this time was told primarily by the white male coloniser and therefore accurate and high quality records are scarce. Bloodlines will bring a voice to harrowing and hidden experiences; tricked onto vessels, often raped and abused on board and ill- treated on the sugar cane plantations they were sent to. Bloodlines remembers these women. Through intergenerational trauma, shame of the violence enacted upon these women and their loss of culture, many of these stories are lost. This project collates these disappearing oral histories with historical information, especially that of Simpson’s own matrilineal heritage, exploring and sharing them through large-scale Indian Miniature paintings, sound, video and prose. By immortalising these stories through traditional forms that historically used to tell religious or culture stories these interwoven narratives will be given their own place in history.
OPENING: 5 September 2018, 6pm
The gallery is free to visit. Visiting hours are 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 2pm to 4pm Saturday.
