Sarojini Lewis

video, performance, international, installation, photographs, Diaspora, Autobiographical, Artistic research, Archives

Sarojini Lewis (India / Netherlands) 1984 has a background in Fine Art (MFA Fine Art Edinburgh University) with a specialization in archival photography, video art and book arts. She is currently working as a curator, researcher and artist. Her ongoing PhD research in visual studies examines the indentured labor archive through a contemporary lens.
Her projects reveal a preoccupation with history: of the landscape, the city, the environment and its user. She questions what unites men in particular their cultural diversity, what kinds of views are present. Recurring elements in her visual research are photographs of objects, people, migration and moments that reveal forgotten situations, and function as visual traces and fragments that create narratives that lead to new perspectives.

Why do you have a face like Sopropo? - Why do you have a Face like Sopropo? was inspired by the project Lewis undertook in 2015 when she was in search of archival images from the documented journey of missionaries based close by a village in Dresden. While undertaking the research she encountered Kerela in the 'shops' with Indian and Pakistani workers, she imagined the journeys of the vegetables from India to Germany similar as that of her ancestors has undertaken more than a hundred years ago. While accumulating images of the Kerela she uses letters, email conversations exchanges with fellow neighbor Rabiya to discover the expressions that Kerela carries. (A bitter emotion and bitter face so to speak) The bitter gourd has a strong taste that can be associated with the history of migration that carries an emotional 'silence'. The separation from loved one's and the displacement did carry along a bitter 'aftertaste'. While contemplating food one can immediately associate with the street food in Kruiskade Rotterdam, the Hindustani community and their intersecting stories with Creole community and the everyday of consuming the food. Yet the more emotional layer that can be associated with bitter gourd is something more mysterious and unresolved that leads to a deeper association with the history of migration and it's emotional spectrum. The installation for the exhibition consists of photographic explorations with the Sopropo as well as a selection of archival images. The work has been made from 2015 until 2021 over in three locations, New Delhi, Paramaribo and Rotterdam.
Redefining Trace - Video Retracing El Alamein 2018 In collaboration with Lele Huang and monologue of Michael Lewis The exhibition involves various video works use a night-club as a performative site. Constructed environments become psychological spaces where social interaction takes place. This installation was made as part of a duo exhibition with Helen Flanagan and her work was juxtaposed with Sarojini Lewis work Retracing El Alamein. The video work Sarojini involves exploration of ancestral migratory routes of her grandfather GS Lewis, researching his traces and his career as a British soldier who fought on the front line in Egypt. Besides this one can read the monologue of her father MBC Lewis that recounts of several historical events. Having this history in mind she retraces his footsteps and the specific Battle of Rommel. Retracing is done together with Lele Huang who on the basis of her father's dairy about his father, who fought in North Korea reimagines and embodies this experience by her performance and reenactment of symbolic plastic soldiers in the war memorial museum in El Alamein War Museum . In conversation together, we would like to expand upon the idea of ​​a constructed space and combine the video works in the environment of Slash Gallery and Worm in Rotterdam.
The Cave that Borrows - 'The Cave that Borrows' is an artistic performance-based movie based on the idea of ​​lending and borrowing that invites discussion on diversity and transformation and the act of becoming while at the same time questioning the capitalist materialistic society that we all live in. 'Cave' when translated into another language, say Mizo, is 'Puk'. 'Puk' is also another word for 'Borrow' or 'Lend' in the same language. The movie lends its meaning and context in 'borrowing' and 'lending' from other cultures and ideas that transform the way of thinking and seeing. A group of artists from different cultures and countries working together offers platform for artistic intervention through a collective work that induce and provoke meditation and interpretation.
Room 327 in the aftermath of Holi - I started living in a room in a flat named Koyna Hostel with only female Indian students in 2015 and got to know its corners and moldy cupboards throughout the years. Despite its dustiness the room gave me quietness. Two bodies share a room of 5 square meters and only after spending some time with several roommates I got used. Sharing a bedroom space meant to be sharing your personal space. Someone to consult through the maze of paperwork that one is confronted with on a daily basis as part of an administration that often confuses its students by surreal instructions. The red brick balcony overlooking the trees and other buildings in the University campus provided me a certain grounded feeling. Early mornings one would wake up by the noises of cricket players and a man on a bicycle selling curt. At nights the barking of dogs kept me awake, the gecko without tail used to crawl around on the balcony as silent companion. During the PhD research in New Delhi on the visuals of female migrants of Bhojpuri indentured labourers, I searched for archival material as an evidence of this Caribbean migration. Often I came across schematic colonial documents with figures on the deaths and illnesses of the migrants. This abstract colonial reality clashed with my emotional connection and relationship with this history. Similar as the traces of Holi celebration, history remains as a touch of powder layered on the skin. Tangible memories shaped a contrast with the elusiveness of my ancestors' personal history. The collection of archival material are from several institutions National Archives of Suriname, - India as well as - Mauritius and the National Archives of London. Self-portraits on days of Holi are combined with some colonial documents I found. I investigate how colonization overtime has led to sexual exploitation and physical exhaustion, evident in some schedules of colonial representations on diseases on board the ships during the three month transportation from India to Suriname. During generations of cultural festivals such as Holi remained an important festival for the Indo-Caribbean community as a form to resist cultural domination from the other yet there are nuances in how its celebrated. The well known bright colors of Holi sometimes conceal a more embittered past that I never heard my Surinamese grandparents speak about. Personally, with my body as a holder of genetics apart from this Indian migration and containing the traces of Holi colors on the surface I see a two sided message. Juxtaposing observations that Bhojpuri female migrants are always depicted as decorative objects in the photographic representations of the colonial era (postcard images and photo studios) or victims of a system are present in my mind. In the current climate surrounding the Indo-Caribbean community, there is little authentic personal representation of identity. I photographed my own body on the day of Holi for four years in my room at Jawaharlal Nehru University of New Delhi. In the Holi self-portraits I pay attention to my own bodily positions and my identification with indentured labour. The first experience of this celebration in India reminded me that there is a physical aspect of touch involved. In a conflicted way, the body is on the one hand the reference to the working body (labouring bodies) through colonial documents, and on the other hand the tactile reminder of a celebration of Holi. A dairy of bodily traces throughout the years. A cycle of making myself vulnerable by documenting traces on my body, the intimacy of touch and the embodied experience of faded fingerprints, an emotion that can be felt through the daylight of the passed day, my facial expression and the fragility of exposing my body. Characteristic of this repeated ritual is the contrasts of the organic traces of Holi colors with the abstraction of rectangular schemes of the colonial documents.
From Surviving To Thriving - In July 2020 three artists from Rotterdam with a shared history and diverse artistic skills and visions, decided to collaborate. We met after in the semi-permanent exhibition 'Crossroads' for which Sarojini Lewis made an art installation in Wereldmuseum titled: 'Why do you have a face like a Sopropo?' For the project 'From Surviving to Thriving' we aimed to bring together creative works of various artists of Indo-Surinamese descent. We felt the importance of highlighting these unique perspectives and experiences, as growing up in The Netherlands we have all felt the heavy absence of black-and people of color in the arts. We noticed a lack of visual representation while trying to pursue a career in the arts with a migrant background. Traces of our backgrounds are left by our ancestors who once departed by boat from Calcutta in India to arrive in Paramaribo, Suriname (1973-1916). We had several conversations in which we discussed various gender sensitive experiences besides being Indo-Surinamese. With 'From Surviving to Thriving' we create a platform for South Asians, having in mind a complex history of indentured labour, who courageously disrupt dominant narratives. - Sarojini Lewis
Three Secrets of Fatima - Bean Confession and the Secrets from Fatima “A sea of ​​fire, Flames that were like seeds, Beans that were like flames. Extraordinary, magenta, purple, bright pink, and a deep Bordeaux red.” In this performance by Sarojini Lewis we see a mysterious appearance of a woman from Portugal, in the city of Fatima. In 1556 the city was named after a Moorish princess and in 1917 a female figure appeared in an oracle for three children of sheep herders. Lewis takes you into a ritual in which she creates a visual narrative with Lapwing beans and combines Fatima's secrets with her own: a Bean Confession. Beans and religion have been linked for generations. Beans also symbolize poverty, in this performance the beans are connected to emotions surrounding secrets, is a eating ritual also a moment to talk about the things we are ashamed of? Why do we always talk about a Holy Bean? The process of picking the beans in Yussef's garden and dreaming with the bean refers to our feelings and emotions surrounding food rituals. In the performance we see a film, we hear poems and Sarojini talks about the family she grew up in, which has three religions, Hinduism, Protestant Christian, Catholic Christian, Buddhism. How did delving into the journey of my ancestors and the migrations that took place change my identity? "I will take you on an oracle in which we will hear stories that I came across through the research I do into symbols behind objects and family stories"
Reciting Footsteps - The project Reciting Footsteps aims to make connections to the plantation ground by historical documents such as archival contract of my ancestor (Hasowa Magai) that migrated from India to Suriname during the time of indentured labor (1873-1920). Besides this I want to trace several pages from archival missionary diaries (1862) describing the period after abolition of slavery. The idea is that the archival narratives of Magai starts a dialogue. By making 4 creative steps that are based on various elements in my practice such as video-work, photography and performance I create a basis for an installation. The steps consist of activating the pages of a diary and Sutterlin script, document the plantation ground, sound recordings of women in Suriname, bodily engagement on plantation ground.
A Solitude Ship that sailed to St. Croix - In 1863, a ship arrived in St. Croix carrying 321 Indian indentured servants. The first also turned out to be the last, because the company fell short of his expectations. What makes the St. Croix case interesting is the question of why the contract experiment failed while the system expanded in other parts of the Caribbean. In 1873 the first ship arrived in Suriname according to the negotiations between the Dutch and British governments. Why did this project in St. Croix fail and indentured labor in Suriname continue until 1920? They began bringing workers from India on contract, a system already well established in the neighboring English, French and Dutch colonies. On November 28, 1861, after preliminary discussions in London, M. Torben de Bille of the Danish Legation wrote a letter to Lord John Russell, the British Secretary of State, formally requesting permission for the importation of labor from India. The five years of the first contract period ended in the middle of 1868. Of the original party of 244 adult men and 60 women, 182 men and 41 women refused re-enlistment, and were sent back to Calcutta. It is unclear why the migration of contract workers stops on St Croix and continues in Suriname. During my project it became clear to me that there was a strong American colonization that subordinated Afro-Caribbean culture. I did come across some people of Indo-Caribbean descent, but they had mostly migrated from Trinidad or one of the other Caribbean islands. In the archives of the Landmark Society I discovered the group of about fifty remaining indentured servants who remained on the island, most of whom had to convert to the Christian faith. I did find out that there was an Indian mandir on the island, but the reason for its creation and the relationship with the contract workers left behind was not immediately clear. I did not immediately find out why contract labor was stopped, but I did investigate the names of all remaining contract workers. The plantation where I made contact with one of the original residents Hildy from St. Croix was Strawberry Hill. I discovered the details of Indian contract workers who had worked on this plantation and visited the old sugar mills to make individual performances there several times. Based on the data in the archive, I linked my expression and body to the idea that the Indian migrants had lived and worked on the plantations in Strawberry Hill. I worked with local guya/sopropo that was eaten by the local community, and I worked on series of performances with the seeds from the fruit. 'Embodiment' at Strawberry Hill Reimagines the History of Indo-Caribbean Identities in St. Croix
Reciting Footsteps of a Female Migrant Soerdi - The exhibition is curated and created by researcher and artist Sarojini Lewis. In the period 2021-2023, she conducted research in the KB into the history of migration (1873-1920) of Indian female contract workers (Hindostanis) in Suriname. She alternated her research period at the KB with work periods in Suriname. Lewis's research focused on the period after the abolition of slavery and the transition to indentured servitude. The exhibition was partly realized with the support of the Mondriaan Fund in the context of the Commemoration Year of the History of Slavery. Female perspective The starting point for Sarojini Lewis's research in the KB was the extensive book West Indian contract workers in Suriname: 1863-1899 (Paramaribo, 2014). In it she found the details of the first woman who emigrated from India via Barbados to Suriname as a contract worker in 1868. This woman, named Soerdie, and her daughter survived the grim conditions on the t'Vertrouwen plantation for a long time, where a group of seventeen Indian contract workers were put to work. During this time there was high mortality of women, newborns and children due to exploitation and unsanitary conditions on the plantations (HE Lamur, 2014). The information about this migrant named Soerdie inspired the artist to conduct further research. She also found other rare documents in the KB from the period before the abolition of slavery until the transition to Indian contract labor in Suriname (1820-1873). Using books, letters and travel reports from that time, the artist uses photos and videos with performance art as 'embodiment' to depict the Soerdie woman and her possible situations on the plantation. With this, the artist wants to offer a different narrative on colonial history from a female perspective. The result of this search is the exhibition Reciting Footsteps of a Female Migrant: Soerdie. Lewis says: “In a process of embodiment and the visual side of documents, I integrated my body with the environment of decay of (former) plantation lands in Suriname. Self-portraits that I make in response to the sources and archives in the library are in line with 'Critical Fabulations, or 'Critical speculation' according to the concept of Saidiya Hartman; a way to transform the numbers and schematic representation of history into missing stories. By looking critically at the facts but also giving a place to human emotion, I depicted fragments of Soerdie's life.” A visual narrative with intertwined rituals in Suriname. During her research of almost three years, she worked on various plantation lands in Suriname on a photo series with which she uses images to connect with the data she found in the KB. In addition to the photographic documentation, Lewis made short video fragments in which certain rituals were performed as a healing process. She combined this with 'embodiment' of her body in combination with encounters with other Surinamese people in a place that is charged with historical formation. What is the story of these places in present-day Suriname, how can we tell intertwined stories between Afro-Surinamese, indigenous and Hindustani individuals? The blue that can be seen in one of the statues in the KB-Atelier was made in Nieuw Amsterdam in collaboration with visual artist Miguel Keerveld in Suriname and is often associated with Afro-Surinamese culture. The statue symbolizes the passing on of rituals, Lewis was also bathed as a baby with bluing by her mother and this tradition continues with her own daughter and is part of both indigenous and Hindustani culture. It is striking that when Soerdie lived there was a high birth mortality in addition to the many contract workers who died young during or after giving birth to their child.
This artist has no awards yet.