New Delhi, Jan. 22 -- When the former ruler of Jaipur, Sawai Madho Singh II, decided to sail the seas in 1902 to attend King Edward VII's coronation in England, it created quite a stir. An ocean voyage was considered a sin at the time, polluting the soul and leading to a loss of caste. The only way the Maharaja could circumvent that was by participating in a host of rituals, which included carting thousands of litres of Ganga jal on his ship to London. Flash forward a century and the story provides a springboard for multidisciplinary artist Boris Colin Alphonse's installation, What We Carry When We Cross, at the upcoming Jaipur Art Week: Edition 5.0. (JAW 5.0).

Alphonse's speculative artwork at the Gyan Museum consists of a fragmented sh...