Residual Veil, 2025 | Mauritius

Residual Veil is a land art installation that reinterprets the lingering impact of the MV Wakashio oil spill, one of the worst environmental disasters Mauritius has faced. On July 25, 2020, the Japanese bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef near Pointe d’Esny, spilling over 1,000 tons of oil into the Indian Ocean. The toxic slick spread across the island’s protected marine ecosystems, suffocating coral reefs, mangroves, and endemic wildlife. While cleanup efforts removed much of the visible oil, its effects persist in subsurface layers, silently altering marine life and ecosystems.

In this installation, small anchored stones are placed the shallow waters, each bearing a length of black fabric—an unsettling rupture on the pristine turquoise sea. The dark, drifting material mirrors the way oil clings to water, an ephemeral yet persistent reminder of environmental negligence. The fabric sways with the currents, evoking the delicate balance between nature’s resilience and its vulnerability to human actions.

By drawing on the memory of the MV Wakashio disaster, Residual Veil refuses the comfort of forgetting. Instead, it transforms a translucent seascape into a site of confrontation—a place where the past lingers just beneath the surface, urging collective reckoning and responsibility.

The work is part of the pARTage Residency, Mauritius