Salt Cosmologies

Confusing exhibition at Somerset House by Hylozoic/Desires (Himali Singh Soin & David Soin Tappeser) exploring the complex subject of Britain’s imperial salt monopoly in India.

The show marks the refurbishment of the Salt Stairs which ran through the Salt Office which oversaw the national interest in salt.

I say confusing as it helps to view the installation in the courtyard first as that is where the concept of 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, was explained. Downstairs they just referred to this as the hedge which confused me and left me imagining a hedge catching salt.

Downstairs there was an AI generated video to try to recreate the hedge from texts as no images of it exist. I’ll admit I’m not sure I understood. I did however like the archive display in what had been one of the offices which did flesh out the history a lot more.

Closed 27 April 2025


 

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