Forgotten voices: Revisiting memories of Indian soldiers who fought World War I

An immersive sound and sculptural installation will bring alive the memories, fears and longing of young Indian soldiers who were sent to fight World War 1 and their families

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

The exhibition will be housed at the 144-year-old restored ice factory IF.BE. The sensitive, immersive show has been inspired by and features lost folk songs sung by women in undivided Punjab, yearning for their sons, brothers and husbands who served in WW 1,  and letters by the soldiers that never reached their families. 

From phonographic records of Indian soldiers who were captured in a Berlin camp, to archives of folk songs sung by women of Punjab besieging England to end the war, and letters from the book — Indian Voices of the Great War: Soldiers’ Letters, 1914-18 by David Omissi, Abidi has plumbed the depths of history for the project that was first showcased in Edinburgh. While the songs faded away, most of these letters were censored and never reached India. The exhibition — comprising songs, and tombstones engraved with the soldiers’ letters — will highlight the theme of erasure. One of the songs which will play at the exhibition was sung by Lahore-based singers Harsakhian and Ali Aftab Saeed, while the other one is a poem by Punjabi poet Amarjit Chandan, written for this arrangement based on the censored letters. “Soldiers would write home and warn families to not send their men to the war, claiming this was the worst war. I linked these letters to the voices of all those soldiers from Berlin whose voices were lost,” she elaborates.

Ankur Tewari

The piece finds increasing relevance in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death. “It’s critical of the war. To this day, it’s accepted that colonisation was just something that had to happen,” she points out. The display also marks the launch of Colaba’s newest gallery, Experimenter, which is presenting the show. On Saturday evening, the exhibition will witness the coming together of singer-songwriter Ankur Tewari, performance poet Sabika Abbas Naqvi, Dalit poet from Dharavi, Shripad Sinnakaar, and writer Skye Arundhati Thomas, who will respond to Bani’s works through music, poetry and readings.  

From: September 24 to October 9; 11 am to 7 pm; September 24, 5.30 pm (performance)
At: IF.BE, Ballard Estate.

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