A Brief Case of Zafar

Click here for an audio guide by Srila Chatterjee

कि तना है बद-नसी ब 'ज़फ़र' दफ़्न के लि ए
दो गज़ ज़मी न भी न मि ली कू-ए-या र में
-बहा दुर शा ह ‘ज़फ़र’

Kitnā hai bad-nasīb ‘Zafar’, dafan ke liye,
do gaz zamīn bhī na milī, kū-e-yār meñ

So unfortunate is ‘Zafar’,
Two yards couldn’t to be found
For him be laid to rest, near his lover
-Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar’

In 1862, Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar’, the last Mughal Emperor, died in exile.
The garden that Babur had planted, which flourished for centuries, wilted in Zafar’s reign.
There is no garden anymore, all that remains is poetry and a briefcase, haphazardly
packed, lying overturned.

Size: height: 21 in. x breadth: 22 in. x depth: 16 in.

Materials: Air India briefcase, a vintage mirror, brass edgings, and scrap metal flowers.

Edition of 3