Vidya and Vashti (Artist Proof)

Vidya and Vashti (Artist Proof), 2020, Renluka Maharaj, Trinidad & Tobago 27 3/5 × 19 7/10 in | 70 × 50 cm Fine Art Paper (Unframed) Free Shipping on this Artwork! This work is part of the June 2023 Tracing Roots exhibition at LES ÎLES Amsterdam. It is a body of work that rescripts and re-signifies colonial portraits of Indian women during a period of 19th-century indentureship in Trinidad and Tobago. Over a million Indians were sent to the British colonies to continue the work of sugar production after slavery had ended. Within the population of indentured laborers, women comprised roughly 25 percent. This shortage of women also eventually led to jealousy and intimate partner violence. A French photographer named Felix Morin took these historical colonial photos. Morin had a studio in the capital of Port of Spain prominently situated, so it was easy to find. The images of these women called "Coolie Belles" were part of a thriving photographic postcard industry that marketed