In Salt Lines, artist duo Hylozoic/Desire (Himali Singh Soin & David Soin Tappeser) excavate the lost archive of the Inland Customs Line. This 4,000km long line–2,500km of which constituted a fence of plants, also known as ‘The Great Hedge of India’–was imposed by the British in the 19th century to enforce the Empire’s deadly monopoly on salt. Traversing the Indian subcontinent, it separated the British-occupied Bengal Presidency from independent states, to prevent so-called ‘smugglers’ from carrying across this invaluable commodity.

Conceived of by the East India Company in the 1830s, and expanded considerably by the British Raj, the barrier was actively patrolled and included security lookouts or chowkis at regular intervals. In 1869, it is estimated that nearly 14,000 workers were employed along the Customs Line. Although highly profitable, protecting one of the Empire’s main streams of revenue, it was a nuisance to maintain, often battered by winds, partially burnt down during the rebellion of 1857 and eaten by termites. Even though the salt monopoly persisted until independence - giving rise to Gandhi’s famous Dandi March in 1930 - the Inland Customs Line was abandoned when the British seized control of Sambhar Lake from the princely states of Jaipur and Jodhpur in 1879. Now, it has been largely erased from memory and landscape.
Hylozoic/Desires work at the threshold of historical records and speculative imaginings to penetrate this porous border. The work acquires a deeper resonance in the context of the erstwhile Victoria and Albert Museum, now the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, that was set up in 1857 especially to promote trade with the Empire.