by simbah pile BA(Hons)
Mixed media collage, with 24ct gold on paper
h: 114 w: 80 d: 1 (cms).
The piece "Alesi Seei" takes its name from the ancient African rice grain which can be found in Suriname (in Central America). African rice strains were brought across the Atlantic by enslaved African women whom braided the grains into their hair as acts of survival, sovereignty and resistance; these grains along with Asian rice grains were then braided again into the hair of enslaved African women whom escaped enslavement and set up independent 'Maroon' societies within the jungles of Suriname. In this piece here are references to plants moved across the world during the colonial period, which altered diets and cultures and have complicated, problematic and fascinating stories attached to them. The artwork features Breadfruit (originally from Polynesia brought to the Caribbean by Captain William Bligh under directorship of the botanist Joseph Banks), Okra (brought to the Caribbean and the Americas by enslaved Africans), and the African strain of rice found in Suriname
£6000 (As exhibited.)
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