A new page in history
Grains of Paradise by Sumayya Vally is inspired by Bruges’ rich commercial history. The city flourished as a major trading centre in the 14th and 15th centuries. Traces of this mercantile past can be found throughout the city, even today.
Grains of Paradise comprises a series of blackened pirogues that are moored at the Minnewater Bridge. Together, they form a communal platform for exchange and trade that references both the past and present, north and south.
The boats are filled with fresh plants and herbs, including melegueta pepper, or Afromomum legueta, a less well-known spice imported in bulk from the Gulf of Guinea. It acquired the local nickname paradijskorrel, meaning ‘grain of paradise’, thanks to its unique flavour and medicinal properties. Grains of Paradise is an invitation to transcend the Western point of view, and to think critically, open-mindedly and beyond national borders.