Notes from a Withheld Winter
Salman B Baba
ARTIST: SALMAN B BABA || 2026 - ongoing
Hokh Syuen : Notes from a Withheld Winter as a project proposes a visual and ethnographic essay exploring lesser-discussed culinary practices of Kashmir, moving beyond the dominant narrative of wazwan to foreground everyday, seasonal food knowledge. It focuses on two interlinked practices: the sun-drying of vegetables and the foraging of wild herbs and produce from forests and meadows for winter consumption
In Kashmir, harsh winters and historical conditions of isolation have shaped a sophisticated culture of preservation and ecological attunement. Vegetables such as brinjal, tomatoes, bottle gourd, turnips, etc., along with river fish and meat, are carefully sliced, threaded, and sun-dried (hokh syun) to sustain them through snow-bound months. Parallel to this, foraging practices bring communities into intimate contact with forests, collecting dandelion greens (haend), Indian rhubarb (pumb haakh) , and seasonal delicacies such as morel mushrooms (gucchi). These practices are not merely culinary but encoded native knowledge systems of survival, memory, and ecology.
The project will document the foraging processes and sun-drying methods through photography, notes, and written reflections, forming a visual essay that situates food as an archive of lived experience. I will reflect on the stories and recipes that my grandmother shared with me and engage with local households, foragers, and elders as knowledge-bearers to know more of these embodied practices.
The final outcomes will be multi-form:
A visual essay combining image and text for publication.
A small-format zine featuring annotated recipes and stories around Kashmir's winter food practices.
A participatory table installation serving select dishes prepared from documented ingredients, activating the archive through taste and shared experience.
The project contributes to food discourse by tracing these fragile and often overlooked culinary practices in South Asia and foregrounds climate-responsive traditions, vernacular knowledge systems, and the politics of sustenance in Kashmir’s geopolitical landscape.