Writer-artist Nia Zera recently opened her exhibition "Cobalt Blue" in Chennai, featuring 31 paintings on shaped wooden panels that draw parallels between Dravidian communities in south India and African cultures. The works explore shared histories of resource wealth and colonial exploitation, inspired by Karen Blixen's 'Out of Africa' and Zera's own upbringing near the Muthuvan Kudi community in Munnar, Kerala. The exhibition took one year and one month to complete, using a predominantly blue palette referencing cobalt and blue-green algae from Africa.
The exhibition matters because it connects two regions often studied separately—south India and Africa—through the lens of colonialism, resource extraction, and labor exploitation. Zera's work highlights ongoing hierarchies in Munnar's plantation economy, referencing the 2015 "Pombilai Orumai" women's strike by tea plantation workers. By centering the visual richness of African cultures against stereotypical media portrayals, the show challenges reductive narratives and amplifies the voices of marginalized communities in both geographies.