Nathalie Muchamad | Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022-23

The artist embeds native Javanese batik tulis textile with archival material and words to annotate this history. The multipart installation also features the De Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or the Dutch East India Company, whose spies managed to smuggle coffee plants out of the Yemeni port of Mocha in 1616, but were unable to grow much until their conquests in Sri Lanka and India.

Nathalie Muchamad has collaborated with Taiwan based artist and curator Lou Mo to produce cushioned seats titled "Currents, Coasts and Islands - The history of Cloves" the seats connect the ports of Kochi, a Dutch port in the 18th century and Ambon where the cloves are grown, via the stopping point in Taiwan. She has also collaborated with Reunion based artist Myriam Omar Awadi for the work "The Blowers", a collection of fresh clay sculptures of 8 pairs of shoes with footprints. It represents the workers who have been migrated to French colonies in Indian Ocean for slavery by the western colonisers.

Nathalie Muchamad's artwork is now displayed at Aspinwall House, Fort Kochi. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale curated by Shubigi Rao, is open until 10th April 2023.

Video lab support: Kiran Nadar Museum of Art