The steel drum emerged as part of a series of resistance movements in Trinidad and Tobago, where protests took the form of percussion orchestras, using the resources of the region's flourishing petroleum industry. Later popularised by the US Army, the development of the steel drum is entangled in the complex history of the Caribbean, and rather remote from its popular image today – as the installation suggests by displaying the strata’s of its making process. While it slowly plays a cyclical melody through a mechanical system placed inside the instrument, the installation also reveals a shift in this particular steel drum, which isn’t tuned to a standard chromatic scale, but to a Middle Eastern ‘maqam’ – implicitly forging connections to broader cultural and economic patterns. The title, 'Resource Curse', refers to a paradox whereby having a wealth of natural resources, such as oil, gas or minerals, tends to bring instability to countries rather than prosperity, as their financial benefits increase economic volatility and political turmoil.