//Periphery of Time - 2022-23



'Periphery of Time' is a mixed-media project that contains a black-and-white digital image, a series of fifteen graphite drawings, and a text piece. This work responds to the concept of universal history, philosophised by the German philosopher Friedrich Hegel, from a decolonial lens.

- The image, titled 'The Myopic Owl', responds to a particular phrase that was most famously invoked by Hegel: 'The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the coming of the dusk.’ Hegel argues that historical knowledge is only possible with mature consciousness. With this, he conceptualised a narrative of world history from the vantage point of Europe, establishing it as the center and the culmination of history that is constituted and defined over the "cultures without history". The image responds critically to Hegel’s vision of history; its philosophy and its universality, by showing a short-sighted image of a dusk landscape.


Myopic owl, 2022, Black and white digital image (images stitched together), 23.5 x 41.5 inches


- The drawings represent the periphery of significant historical events ranging from the death of Socrates to the fall of the Berlin Wall via the Renaissance, which, according to common understanding, has altered the course of history. In order to redirect the vision from the center to the periphery, I have redrawn the peripheral sections of the paintings, prints, and photographs that depict these events. I have sourced the images from paintings like:The Death of Socrates by Jacques Louis David (1787), Arnolfo shows the plan to enlarge Florence by Giorgio Vasari (1563/1565), and photographs like After Lenin Speech by Grigory Petrovich Goldstein (1920), The Fall of the Berlin Wall by Mark Power (1989), and others.


Greek Civilisation, (Death of Socrates by Jacques Louis David, 1787), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

Roman Civilisation, (Assasination of Julius Caesar, Karl_Theodor_von, 1865), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

Birth of Christianity (The Last Supper, Leonardo Da Vinci, 1495–1498), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

Middle Ages, (Saint Benedict, Francisco de Zurbarán, 1640–45), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

Age of Discovery, (Landing of Columbus at the Island of Guanahaní, West Indies, John Vanderlyn, 1846 ), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

Renaissance, (Arnolfo shows the plan to enlarge Florence, Giorgio Vasari 1563-1565), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

Scientific revolution, (Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God, Jan Matejko, 1873), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

French Revolution, (Liberty Leading the People, Eugène Delacroix, 1830), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

Age of Enlightnement, (Schiller reading to the court in Tiefurt, Theobald von Oer, 1860), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

Industrial revolution, (Carding, Drawing and Roving. Thomas Allom, 1836), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

Russian revolution, (After Lenin Speech, Grigory Petrovich Goldstein, 1920), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

World war I, (Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo,  Walter Tausch, 1914), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

World war II, (Poles walk among the ruins of besieged Warsaw, Julien Bryan 1939), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

68' Revolution, (Students gathered for a general assembly in the amphitheater at Sorbonne University, Agence France Presse, 1968), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches

The fall of the Berlin Wall, (The Fall of the Berlin Wall, Mark Power, 1989), Graphite drawing on paper, 11.7 X 11.7 inches


- The text piece analyses the discourse of time across universal history, from Greek civilisation to the fall of the Berlin Wall via the Renaissance, and argues that the concept of time was replaced by its oppositional concept of 'eternity' throughout universal history, which has shaped our temporal experience.