Artist Collective.

Our 1st exhibition

1834 Collective is pleased to present: 1834, the debut exhibition at Turf Project Space. The exhibition title is taken from the year that Indian Indentureship was first recorded as beginning. This new colonial enterprise resulted in 1.6 million Indians being indentured to European colonies as a replacement following the abolition of slavery.

This exhibition brings together artists descended from the global histories of Indian indentureship, each using their art to engage with a legacy shaped by displacement, resilience, and cultural survival.

Rooted in personal memory and intergenerational storytelling, the works on view reanimate fragmented histories, tracing journeys across oceans, plantations, and diasporic borders, while reclaiming and strengthening voices that were systemically suppressed.

By centring the perspectives of those historically marginalised, the exhibition becomes both a site of honouring and a space of reckoning. It invites the audience to bear witness to the enduring impact of indentureship post its end in 1920.

Address

Turf project Space, 46-47 Trinity Court, Whitgift Centre, Croydon CR0 1UQ

Launch Party

Saturday 11^thApril 2pm – 5pm

Opening Hours

Saturday 11th April – Saturday 25th April 2026

Wednesday – Saturday, 11am-5pm

The year 1834 marks a pivotal shift

The end of slavery in the British Empire and the beginning of the Indian indenture system, a transition that reshaped the lives, families and cultures of our ancestors across oceans.

As a collective, we create space for these histories to be seen, felt, and carried forward. Our work is not academic it is personal, intuitive, and deeply rooted in ancestral memories. Through painting, photography, performance, storytelling and research shaped by curiosity rather than institutions, we follow the overlooked narratives.

An indenture is a work contract that ties a labourer to an employer for a set number of years. This kind of agreement has existed in many places throughout history. But from the 16th century onwards, as European countries expanded their colonies, indenture grew into a much larger and more widespread system.

People were recruited to work far from home and sent on long sea journeys that many never returned from. They were often promised land or a better life after their contract ended, but these promises were rarely kept.

Our aim is to honour ancestral resilience, reconnect with what was silenced and open new conversations about identity, belonging, and the ongoing legacies of indenture in our communities today.

Affected Countries

Australia, Barbados, China, Cuba, Fiji, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Malaysia, Martinique, Mauritius, Peru, Portugal, Réunion, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St Lucia, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu.