Garima Gupta's 'Out of Place' Drawings Critique Colonial Extraction in Museum Collections

Garima Gupta's 2021 series 'Out of Place' examines how natural history specimens in museum collections carry violent colonial histories. The New Delhi-based artist and researcher created drawings based on minerals and meteoritics from the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut, recontextualizing these materials far from their origins. Her work specifically addresses apophyllite from Bhor Ghat near Mumbai, where British colonial railway construction caused thousands of worker deaths. Gupta collaborated with curator Chitra Ramalingam, layering mineral images with historical elements like archival railway maps. The series includes drawings of graphite, calcite, copper, molybdenite, and a Namibian meteorite specimen. Gupta's project connects historical extraction to contemporary exploitation in India, citing deforestation, mining bill amendments, and tourism development in Kodagu district. The work was shared online during the pandemic after an onsite residency shifted to Zoom. Published in ArtReview's December 2021 issue, the article positions Gupta's practice within broader museum reckoning with colonial pasts and restitution debates.