Nupur invites visitors into a cozy domestic space, but its colonial-era style evokes the region’s history of violence. The tablecloth is embroidered with a map of the British Empire from 1886. The napkins are sewn with opium poppies, a crop that farmers were forced to grow by the British East India Company, often at no profit. The artist herself wears a costume that combines traditional Bangladeshi and British elements. For Nupur, this serves as a reminder that the European custom of adding milk and sugar is an adulteration of Asian tea-drinking customs. While highlighting the comforting role of tea drinking in Britain and South Asia, the work invites us to reflect on the impact of British imperialism and colonialism.

This work was developed during a residency at the Peabody Essex Museum in association with the Dhaka Art Summit and was acquired for the Tate collection in 2020 with funding from the Tate’s South Asia Acquisitions Committee.