More than a million Indian soldiers served the British Army in World War (WW) 1. Over 70,000 of them died. And yet, the experiences of these foot soldiers don’t find space in the pages of history books. “It’s one of the most silenced histories. When I went to the Imperial War Museums [in London], there was barely one photograph of the Indian foot soldiers in the WW1 or WW2 sections,” recalls Berlin-based South Asian artist Bani Abidi. At a show that kicks off this weekend in Ballard Estate, the artist’s sound and sculptural installation, Memorial to Lost Words, will open a page of history where the experiences of those soldiers, and their families, take centrestage.

Bani Abidi