Ruled Paper (red, blue, white) are reminiscent of four-lined page notebooks used in schools to practice learning to write. While the straight lines provide a framework, they also convey an impression of conformity to imposed rules. Here the lines consist of electric wires, the conduits used by global communication technologies. In some places they morph into barbed barriers evoking borders, threat and mistrust suggesting the dual nature of communication technologies both as connectors and potential sources of division. Red, blue and white recall the colours of the imperial state’s flags, evoking a legacy of colonial assertion, through the imposition of language and education systems, which this work symbolically gestures toward. As the lines distort, they give way to forms that reference maps of conflict zones such as Aksai Chin, Crimea, the Gaza Strip, Gilgit Baltistan, and the Taiwan Strait, among others conjuring up a long history of colonialist nationalist claims. Through this formal exploration, Kallat exposes the tacit ways in which our minds and perceptions can be colonised by the frameworks we are conditioned within.

Crimea, situated along the northern Black Sea coast, is home to roughly 2.4 million people, predominantly ethnic Russians, while also encompassing Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar minorities.
Historically, Catherine The Great's reign in 1783 saw Crimea integrated into the Russian Empire, where it remained until 1954 when it was transferred to Ukraine during the leadership of Soviet statesman Nikita Khrushchev.
In 2014, Crimea boasted a significant ethnic Russian majority, constituting about 60% of the population, making it the sole Ukrainian region with such demographics. However, it's vital to acknowledge that, following the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, newly independent states mutually recognized existing borders. Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 violated various international agreements, including the UN Charter, the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, the 1994 Budapest Memorandum of Security Assurances for Ukraine, and the 1997 Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia.
While the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict in Donbas occupies the forefront, the issue of Crimea has taken a backseat as Kyiv concentrates on resolving the ongoing strife. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian government remains resolute in its commitment to reclaim Crimea, although the challenges of garnering the necessary political, diplomatic, economic, and military resources for this endeavor remain daunting.