Dalanda

Detail from Circuit.

13 Names: Srinivas Kuchibhotla, Vincent Chin + 11

Inspired by Anirvan Chatterjee's article The $205 million industry that helped murder ‪Srinivas Kuchibhotla.

Content note: mention of death by violence

The rings contain names of Asians in America who were murdered in cases of mistaken ethnic identity - South Asians shot by someone who assumed that they were Arabs, Indians killed by someone who thought that they were Iranians, a Vietnamese American murdered by someone who assumed that they were Japanese... You can find the names of more Asian American hate crime victims at 35 Years After Vincent Chin's Murder, How Has America Changed?.

Mentari

Detail from Guardian of the Gate.

Nenzima

Detail from Through the Gate.

Seydou

Detail from The Djinni's Tune.

Usman

Detail from Cables.

When all that's left of your child is a bit of hair

A recurring theme in folktales from different West African cultures is the mistreated child who sinks into the earth:

The Pineapple Child (from the Ga ethnic group of Ghana):

A hunter had 2 wives. The younger wife was childless, and wanted a child very much. One day, she was on her way to the farm with her husband when they met an old man who asked them what they wished for. They answered, "A child." The old man uprooted a pineapple plant growing nearby and changed it into a baby girl. The younger wife was delighted, but the old man warned them that they must never tell the child that she came from a pineapple.

The younger wife brought the baby home and spent many happy hours with her. The older wife, Adele, hated that her co-wife was so happy. She eavesdropped on the younger wife and learnt about the origin of the baby. Adele's resentment of her co-wife increased as the years went by, watching her rival dote on the growing child.