Art Now: Hylozoic/Desires

Artist duo Hylozoic/Desires excavate the lost archive of the Salt Hedge in their new moving image installation and this accompanying publication, speculating on forgotten colonial history and myth, exploring borders and the movement of ideas, and the power of indigenous knowledge as a tool of resistance. The Inland Customs Line, or the Salt Hedge, separated the British-occupied Bengal Presidency from independent states to prevent smuggling and enforce the British monopoly on salt. Between 1840 and 1880, the British Empire built a barrier in the Indian subcontinent that stretched for 4,000km, of which more than half was a planted hedge. Art Now is a series of free exhibitions at Tate Britain focusing on new and recent work by emerging artists. Since its inception in 1995, it has recognised talent at its outset and provided a springboard for artists who have gone on to become established figures on the international art scene. Art Now: Hylozoic/Desires is part of a series of related presentations by the artists, including Somerset House’s outdoor commission, namak haram/namak halal, which takes the form of an immense line of block printed fabric depicting the non-human life that inhabited the hedge (19 February – 26 April 2025).