1. Panchee
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
History is carried in the wind here, and he walks through it.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
History is carried in the wind here, and he walks through it.
List of works
2. Golf links
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Just across from Panchee’s home is the golf link of the Ba Golf Club, est 1950.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Just across from Panchee’s home is the golf link of the Ba Golf Club, est 1950.
3. Mango season
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
It’s mango season. Panchee’s hands are covered in ripe mango juice. His sister, Poonam, is cooking on a chula (wood-burning stove).
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
It’s mango season. Panchee’s hands are covered in ripe mango juice. His sister, Poonam, is cooking on a chula (wood-burning stove).
4. Kerosene lamp
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Panchee and Neha play in the light of a kerosene lamp.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Panchee and Neha play in the light of a kerosene lamp.
5. Fiji bath
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Panchee’s cousin Piki bathes her daughter, Neha.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Panchee’s cousin Piki bathes her daughter, Neha.
6. Home
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
A few steps from Panna’s front porch, Panchee’s mother stands at the entrance of her home.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
A few steps from Panna’s front porch, Panchee’s mother stands at the entrance of her home.
7. Panchee with his Naani
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Panchee with his grandmother
(maternal).
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Panchee with his grandmother
(maternal).
8. Lane25
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Lane25, Pachis number lane. Ba
(pronounced mBa), Fiji.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Lane25, Pachis number lane. Ba
(pronounced mBa), Fiji.
9. Impermanence
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Panchee’s cousin Shibu sits in front of Panchee’s home after a suspicious fire. The cycle of death, birth, destruction, creation, good, evil, sadness, joy, the impermanence of all things and the unrelenting permanence of change.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Panchee’s cousin Shibu sits in front of Panchee’s home after a suspicious fire. The cycle of death, birth, destruction, creation, good, evil, sadness, joy, the impermanence of all things and the unrelenting permanence of change.
10. Panchee (older)
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
History is carried in the wind
here, and he walks through it.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
History is carried in the wind
here, and he walks through it.
11. Hidden Inheritance
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
The intricate lace of a doily curtain, with blurred figure
(Panchee) beyond. It speaks to hidden histories of trauma,
addiction, and the epigenetic legacy of colonial indentured
labour in Fiji.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
The intricate lace of a doily curtain, with blurred figure
(Panchee) beyond. It speaks to hidden histories of trauma,
addiction, and the epigenetic legacy of colonial indentured
labour in Fiji.
12.Line25
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
A bus marked ‘Line25’ traces back to colonial times when CSR (Colonial Sugar Refining Company) established numbered ‘Lines’ for indentured labourers working in sugar plantations. Over time, the name evolved into ‘Lane25,’ reflecting the way it was spoken in local dialects, but ‘Line25’ remains a recognisable part of Fiji’s labour history and the legacy of sugar production.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
A bus marked ‘Line25’ traces back to colonial times when CSR (Colonial Sugar Refining Company) established numbered ‘Lines’ for indentured labourers working in sugar plantations. Over time, the name evolved into ‘Lane25,’ reflecting the way it was spoken in local dialects, but ‘Line25’ remains a recognisable part of Fiji’s labour history and the legacy of sugar production.
13. Falling Over Ba
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
As the drone descended unexpectedly over Ba, Fiji, it felt as though something unseen, lingering over the land, deeper forces at play in this region marked by history, where the energy of past and present converge.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
As the drone descended unexpectedly over Ba, Fiji, it felt as though something unseen, lingering over the land, deeper forces at play in this region marked by history, where the energy of past and present converge.
14. Eye on Rarawai
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Flames engulf the sugarcane fields in Rarawai (still water) as the moon peeks through a clouded sky, a natural juxtaposition between fire and darkness.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Flames engulf the sugarcane fields in Rarawai (still water) as the moon peeks through a clouded sky, a natural juxtaposition between fire and darkness.
15. The Lane25 house
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
My grandmother told me about this place, a site where
generational shadows linger.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
My grandmother told me about this place, a site where
generational shadows linger.
16. Burning Cane
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Flames rise from the sugarcane fields. The practice, crucial to labourers to avoid the sharp cuts of the cane leaves.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Flames rise from the sugarcane fields. The practice, crucial to labourers to avoid the sharp cuts of the cane leaves.
17. Unseen Perspectives
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
At this moment I was searching for a fallen drone, unaware of the camera’s perspective.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
At this moment I was searching for a fallen drone, unaware of the camera’s perspective.
18. Death and rebirth
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Amidst the charred remains of my aunts burnt-down house, vibrant flowers bloom defiantly.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
Amidst the charred remains of my aunts burnt-down house, vibrant flowers bloom defiantly.
19. LANE25 - Panchee - Photographic
Story Book
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
A photographic journey that traces threads of memory, place, and hidden inheritance.
Story Book
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Ba, Fiji
A photographic journey that traces threads of memory, place, and hidden inheritance.
20-24: LANE25 Immersive Experience
Shivani Karan
Virtual Reality*
Lane25 transforms memory and heritage into a sensory virtual landscape, where personal and collective histories intertwine, reflecting the familial connections and emotional ties of creator
Shivani Karan to the site. Through her personal quest, Lane25 unravels its secrets.
Shivani Karan
Virtual Reality*
Lane25 transforms memory and heritage into a sensory virtual landscape, where personal and collective histories intertwine, reflecting the familial connections and emotional ties of creator
Shivani Karan to the site. Through her personal quest, Lane25 unravels its secrets.
20. LANE25 Short film
Shivani Karan
Digital Video
Ba, Fiji
Standing in front of the house on Lane25, a recording of my late cousin Panna’s voice echoes the reminder of stories my grandmother used to tell. The short film is a collection of footage and audio captured over time in Fiji.
Shivani Karan
Digital Video
Ba, Fiji
Standing in front of the house on Lane25, a recording of my late cousin Panna’s voice echoes the reminder of stories my grandmother used to tell. The short film is a collection of footage and audio captured over time in Fiji.
21. Aji
Shivani Karan
Archival Photograph
Ba, Fiji
This photograph of my Aji (grandmother), captures a moment in time that speaks to her strength and grace.
Shivani Karan
Archival Photograph
Ba, Fiji
This photograph of my Aji (grandmother), captures a moment in time that speaks to her strength and grace.
22. Aja
Shivani Karan
Archival Photograph
Ba, Fiji
This photograph of my Aja (grandfather), reflects a time of resilience and adaptation for descendants of Girmitiyas in Fiji.
Shivani Karan
Archival Photograph
Ba, Fiji
This photograph of my Aja (grandfather), reflects a time of resilience and adaptation for descendants of Girmitiyas in Fiji.
23. Lane25 – Scent Diffusion
Shivani Karan
Scented oil
A sweet fragrance floats in the air - raat ke raani (night jasmine) evokes the sweet floral scent of Fiji at night.
Shivani Karan
Scented oil
A sweet fragrance floats in the air - raat ke raani (night jasmine) evokes the sweet floral scent of Fiji at night.
24. Lane25 - Augmented Reality
Shivani Karan
An augmented reality memoir
from Lane25, bridging the
virtual and real world.
Point your camera at the QR code and tap the banner that appears on your screen.
Shivani Karan
An augmented reality memoir
from Lane25, bridging the
virtual and real world.
Point your camera at the QR code and tap the banner that appears on your screen.
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Artwork on display (play for audio description)
A sample of fabric with incense marks is available in the gallery to touch while listening to the recording.
It always begins with the materials – silk organza and incense.
I have chosen various lengths of silk organza, including 4.5 yards, the minimum length for saris.
Incense, a plant based aromatic, is an important drawing tool, chosen for its significant use in ceremonial rituals to create ambience, dispel odours, cleanse and communicate to spirits.
Various diameters of incense sticks are used to burn through the fabric evaporating as smoke. While there is no physical waste created, a self critique of my own work is that the burning of fabric does release gases into the air, therefore, not totally waste free.
The waves, ripples and creases of the fabric inform where to start and finish drawing – they tangle and twine, connect and disconnect, with perforations conglomerating and transforming lines into planes.
My first take on the works is that they are evocative of maps, islands, large open spaces, island hopping, journeys leading to ‘no’ place or ‘some’ place, sometimes displaced.
Is this my interpretation because of childhood memories of island hopping in Fiji, spending as much time on water [on the move] as on land [more stationary]?
I also take some time to reflect on the unimaginable journey my ancestors took crossing the kala pani for months on end, accompanied with their hopes, dreams and fears, only to be met with disappointments and difficulties.
I am very comfortable in both being rooted in place and uprooting to move and my lifestyle is certainly testament to that.
Uprooting oneself is often seen as a disturbance, an end or beginning, a lack of commitment, focus, a disconnect, whereas the establishing of roots, ie remaining in one place for a length of time, is seen as the antithesis. Architect and academic, Albert L. Refiti, throws some light on this duality *.
He states: “In the teachings of Austin, roots and routes are not separate but are entangled threads, continuities in transformation that are rewoven and repeated”.
Referring specifically to Austin’s take on architecture in the Pacific, Refiti says: “Architecture in the Pacific is intimately connected to both land and sea – the land for roots to take hold in, and the sea for routes of ideas and relationships to extend and connect”.
Trained as an architect, and coming from Fiji, this resonates deeply with me.
So, perhaps it is not about uprooting oneself, but about embarking on routes to connect, disconnect and reconnect, strengthening and releasing connections along the way. Perhaps my roots are relational and not tangible fixtures to place?
A sample of fabric with incense marks is available in the gallery to touch while listening to the recording.
It always begins with the materials – silk organza and incense.
I have chosen various lengths of silk organza, including 4.5 yards, the minimum length for saris.
Incense, a plant based aromatic, is an important drawing tool, chosen for its significant use in ceremonial rituals to create ambience, dispel odours, cleanse and communicate to spirits.
Various diameters of incense sticks are used to burn through the fabric evaporating as smoke. While there is no physical waste created, a self critique of my own work is that the burning of fabric does release gases into the air, therefore, not totally waste free.
The waves, ripples and creases of the fabric inform where to start and finish drawing – they tangle and twine, connect and disconnect, with perforations conglomerating and transforming lines into planes.
My first take on the works is that they are evocative of maps, islands, large open spaces, island hopping, journeys leading to ‘no’ place or ‘some’ place, sometimes displaced.
Is this my interpretation because of childhood memories of island hopping in Fiji, spending as much time on water [on the move] as on land [more stationary]?
I also take some time to reflect on the unimaginable journey my ancestors took crossing the kala pani for months on end, accompanied with their hopes, dreams and fears, only to be met with disappointments and difficulties.
I am very comfortable in both being rooted in place and uprooting to move and my lifestyle is certainly testament to that.
Uprooting oneself is often seen as a disturbance, an end or beginning, a lack of commitment, focus, a disconnect, whereas the establishing of roots, ie remaining in one place for a length of time, is seen as the antithesis. Architect and academic, Albert L. Refiti, throws some light on this duality *.
He states: “In the teachings of Austin, roots and routes are not separate but are entangled threads, continuities in transformation that are rewoven and repeated”.
Referring specifically to Austin’s take on architecture in the Pacific, Refiti says: “Architecture in the Pacific is intimately connected to both land and sea – the land for roots to take hold in, and the sea for routes of ideas and relationships to extend and connect”.
Trained as an architect, and coming from Fiji, this resonates deeply with me.
So, perhaps it is not about uprooting oneself, but about embarking on routes to connect, disconnect and reconnect, strengthening and releasing connections along the way. Perhaps my roots are relational and not tangible fixtures to place?
Price:
$750 for smaller works [90cm by 140cm]
Price on enquiry for larger works [140cm by 450 cm]
$750 for smaller works [90cm by 140cm]
Price on enquiry for larger works [140cm by 450 cm]
* Text taken from Oceanic Architectural Routes – presentation of photographic archive of Dr Mike Austin’s images taken during his travels of the Pacific from the late 1960s to 2006.
Photo credit: Stephen Rainbow
Photo credit: Stephen Rainbow
25 - 29.
Incensed, 2023 - 2024
Padma Naidu
Incense marks on silk organza
Incensed, 2023 - 2024
Padma Naidu
Incense marks on silk organza
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30. Kunti ke katha/ Nai talanoa kei Kunti/ Kunti’s story, 2023
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage)
20-year-old Kunti resisted the sexual molestations of an overseer. Indian newspapers published her story of abuse and resistance. This story mobilised the process of enquiry into the treatment of indentured women in Fiji.
Price: $455
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage)
20-year-old Kunti resisted the sexual molestations of an overseer. Indian newspapers published her story of abuse and resistance. This story mobilised the process of enquiry into the treatment of indentured women in Fiji.
Price: $455
31. Narayani ke Krodh/ Na kundru
nei Narayani/ Narayani’s Anger,
2023
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage)
Narayani lost her child and
refused to go back to work. She
was severely beaten and taken
to hospital. The overseer who
beat her was found not guilty.
Due to this trauma, Narayani
became mentally ill/insane.
Price: $455
nei Narayani/ Narayani’s Anger,
2023
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage)
Narayani lost her child and
refused to go back to work. She
was severely beaten and taken
to hospital. The overseer who
beat her was found not guilty.
Due to this trauma, Narayani
became mentally ill/insane.
Price: $455
32. Hamaar Number/ Noqu number/
Call Number, 2024
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, paper)
Indentured labourers were
called coolies (a derogatory
term for a low waged worker)
by the British. They were each
assigned an identification
number when they arrived to
work on the farm every morning.
Price: NFS
Call Number, 2024
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, paper)
Indentured labourers were
called coolies (a derogatory
term for a low waged worker)
by the British. They were each
assigned an identification
number when they arrived to
work on the farm every morning.
Price: NFS
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33. Shakti et.al/ Kaukauwa kei na
veikatale eso (Kaukauwa &s)/
Power and All, 2024
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, ink)
These women (generation after
generation) were remarkable.
They had so much going on, yet
they did not lose hope. We are
the result of their shakti, a
result of their determination
and hard work.
Price: $1330
veikatale eso (Kaukauwa &s)/
Power and All, 2024
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, ink)
These women (generation after
generation) were remarkable.
They had so much going on, yet
they did not lose hope. We are
the result of their shakti, a
result of their determination
and hard work.
Price: $1330
34. Kala Kotharia/ Rumu Butobuto/
Blacked-out rooms, 2023
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, cold wax, ink)
Worker accommodation was a
room that was 8ft x 10ft for
a family or three adults.
The room also contained their
belongings, farm tools and
cooking items. These rooms did
not have windows, and such
small spaces created a breeding
ground for the abuse of women.
Price: $300
Blacked-out rooms, 2023
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, cold wax, ink)
Worker accommodation was a
room that was 8ft x 10ft for
a family or three adults.
The room also contained their
belongings, farm tools and
cooking items. These rooms did
not have windows, and such
small spaces created a breeding
ground for the abuse of women.
Price: $300
35. Hamaar Talab/ Na kequ isau/ My
wage, 2023
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage, cold wax)
Women’s wages were half as much
as men’s. However, women worked
longer hours (on the farm and
as well as cooking, cleaning,
and caring for children). They
were overworked and underpaid,
malnourished and worn out.
Price: $300
wage, 2023
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage, cold wax)
Women’s wages were half as much
as men’s. However, women worked
longer hours (on the farm and
as well as cooking, cleaning,
and caring for children). They
were overworked and underpaid,
malnourished and worn out.
Price: $300
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36. Pehchaan - Sab kuch luta,
lekin shakti nahi/ o yau -
Era botakoca na noqu/ Identity
– they stole everything, but
could not take my power, 2023
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage)
The British deceived and
ripped the indentured people
of their dignity and self-
respect, separated families
and ill-treated them. But
their willpower was so strong
that they lived through the
adversities. The trauma was
immense; they felt damaged
yet persevered so that future
generations could have better.
Price: $455
lekin shakti nahi/ o yau -
Era botakoca na noqu/ Identity
– they stole everything, but
could not take my power, 2023
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage)
The British deceived and
ripped the indentured people
of their dignity and self-
respect, separated families
and ill-treated them. But
their willpower was so strong
that they lived through the
adversities. The trauma was
immense; they felt damaged
yet persevered so that future
generations could have better.
Price: $455
37. Irony, 2023
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, jute, turmeric, charcoal)
This work speaks of the
bitter irony of the Girmitiyas
situation in the British
colonies. At the time England
was making breakthroughs
in mechanics, medicine, and
technology and getting ready
to fight wars to protect and
empower their own people;
yet at the same time they
were killing the souls of the
Indians that they had enslaved.
Price: $455
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, jute, turmeric, charcoal)
This work speaks of the
bitter irony of the Girmitiyas
situation in the British
colonies. At the time England
was making breakthroughs
in mechanics, medicine, and
technology and getting ready
to fight wars to protect and
empower their own people;
yet at the same time they
were killing the souls of the
Indians that they had enslaved.
Price: $455
38.Hamaar nawa ghar/ Ni
itikotikovou/ My new home, 2024
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage, turmeric, sindhoor, paper and charcoal)
Most indentured labourers decided
to settle in Fiji, calling it
their new home. They had spent
so much time working/building
Fiji that they felt a sense of
connection to the new land. The
land which had given them a new
lease of life. The land where
their elders and babies were
buried. Indentured labourers/
descendants formed friendships
with the iTaukei people and
lived on their land; for which
they were ever grateful.
Price $1050
itikotikovou/ My new home, 2024
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage, turmeric, sindhoor, paper and charcoal)
Most indentured labourers decided
to settle in Fiji, calling it
their new home. They had spent
so much time working/building
Fiji that they felt a sense of
connection to the new land. The
land which had given them a new
lease of life. The land where
their elders and babies were
buried. Indentured labourers/
descendants formed friendships
with the iTaukei people and
lived on their land; for which
they were ever grateful.
Price $1050
39. E amma log ke sapna hai hum/ O
yau na nodra isausau na marama
era a liu/ I am the dream of
these women before me, 2024
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage)
There are many women before
me. I don’t know them or their
names, but I know that I am
their dream. Their genes, trauma
and the supernatural force
(mana) all are inside of me.
Price: $1150
yau na nodra isausau na marama
era a liu/ I am the dream of
these women before me, 2024
Seema Singh
Mixed media (acrylic, collage)
There are many women before
me. I don’t know them or their
names, but I know that I am
their dream. Their genes, trauma
and the supernatural force
(mana) all are inside of me.
Price: $1150
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40. Hidden Inheritance - Doily
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Lautoka, Fiji
The intricate lace of a doily
curtain speaks to hidden histories
of trauma, addiction, and the
epigenetic legacy of colonial
indentured labour in Fiji.
Shivani Karan
Digital Photography
Lautoka, Fiji
The intricate lace of a doily
curtain speaks to hidden histories
of trauma, addiction, and the
epigenetic legacy of colonial
indentured labour in Fiji.
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Scan QR code to find out more info about the Hidden Inheritance artists and artwork.
Or go to lane25.com/hidden
Or go to lane25.com/hidden
More information
