Meena Kandasamy
Meena Kandasamy is an Indian poet, novelist, and translator whose work confronts caste, gender, and colonial histories. In 2024, she participated in the Objects Talk Back project at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, using literature to reimagine museum collections and interrogate power, memory, and restitution.
India
Centered on a 17th-century Tamil Nadu ivory sculpture of lovers, Mithuna, interrogates how caste, class, and power are carved into the artwork. Refusing to idealise or exoticise the object, Meena Kandasamy weaves together poetry, Twitter, academic discourse, and memoir to explore who gets to love and on what terms. The result is a multi-layered narrative that boldly challenges conventional ideas of restitution, preservation, and romance.