Jaipur Centre for Art, in collaboration with RMZ Foundation, presents Salt Lines, a compelling new art exhibition in Jaipur by the artist duo Hylozoic/Desires. Opening inside the historic City Palace complex, the presentation excavates the largely forgotten history of the British Raj’s 4,000-kilometre Inland Customs Line and its direct impact on the region’s landscape.
About the Exhibition
Following its acclaimed showing at the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai, Salt Lines travels to the Jaipur Centre for Art (JCA) from 3 July to 9 August 2026. This art exhibition in Jaipur examines the Great Hedge of India—a vast living barrier of thorns built by the East India Company and the British Raj to enforce a brutal salt monopoly. By treating this vanished border as a poetic and political space, artists Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser connect colonial extraction to ecology, myth, and human resistance.
A Historic Reckoning
The exhibition carries profound local resonance within the City Palace, once the seat of the Jaipur royal court. The historic Inland Customs Line was abandoned in 1879 only after the British seized control of Sambhar Lake from the princely states of Jaipur and Jodhpur. Hosting the show within the palace grounds turns the presentation into an act of historic reckoning and cultural reclamation, directly linking the artwork to the physical territory it addresses.
Artistic Practice and Multidisciplinary Curation
Forming the artistic duo Hylozoic/Desires, Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser work at the intersection of historical research and speculative imagination. Supported by the RMZ Foundation, their practice incorporates moving image, soundscapes, and multi-layered storytelling. The exhibition highlights their film The Hedge of Halomancy, featuring a courtesan protagonist named Mayalee, whose fictional presence mirrors the historical sounds of sitars, bansuris, and colonial brass regiments echoing through historic palace halls.
Exhibition Details
Title: Salt Lines
Artists: Hylozoic/Desires (Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser)
Presenter: Jaipur Centre for Art (JCA) in collaboration with RMZ Foundation
Venue: Jaipur Centre for Art, City Palace, Jaipur, India
Dates: 3 July to 9 August 2026
Gallery Website: jaipurcentreforart.org
This article has been created from the press kit shared with Abir Pothi. For press releases and related queries, write to editor@abirpothi.com.
Contributor
