SAF FELLOWSHIP SHOWCASE

Having received the inaugural ASAP x SAF Curatorial Research Fellowship in August 2023, I embarked on a 3-month research period in the UK, culminating in the exhibition titled the nights will follow the days that was showcased during the Serendipity Arts Festival in December 2023, featuring works of five artists.

I have been living and working in Glasgow since 2021, post my education at the Glasgow School of Art. As an independent curator and writer, I have been engaged in multiple projects over the past three years, fostering a deeper knowledge and understanding of working as part of the creative community here. I was gradually beginning to direct my practice towards pursuing my own research interests pertaining to themes of archives, memories, hauntology and material cultures, with a particular focus on the Global South in the neo-colonial framework. The Curatorial Research Fellowship, designed for an emerging diasporic curator based in the UK, came to me at a very important stage of my career, giving me the much needed platform, institutional support and funding to realize my work across borders.

The fellowship comprised two stages. The first stage was the research period over three months that was undertaken across the UK. I focused on Glasgow and London in particular, and made additional trips to Liverpool during the Liverpool Biennial; Manchester and Milton-Keynes. This dedicated period provided me with the necessary time, funding and resources to delve deeper into my project. Throughout this phase, the ASAP team facilitated connections with academics and curators, conversations and studio visits with artists primarily in London, and provided access to resources, ongoing exhibitions, private openings and events like Frieze, which afforded me further opportunities to engage with artists and gallerists.

My proposal changed slightly over the course of the fellowship. Recognizing that my initial proposal to explore the very specific themes of transoceanic histories and memories demanded a more extensive period of study and connections, I decided to work on the broader themes of migration - encompassing the histories from the Indian Ocean, the Partition, the ongoing Rohingya crisis, the consequences of displacement and dissociation, the idea of a home and homeland, and the identity of a self in the post colony. Accordingly, I got in touch with artists who have been working in these areas of research, and chose to work with artists from the South Asian diaspora, and histories that I could immediately relate to, rather than with a wider community of people. To break the monotony of the presentation, the format of the exhibition also changed from solely looking at moving images that I had initially proposed, to incorporating some physical works. In the process of selecting the artists, I was introduced to a wider set of practices both from the region and the diaspora, and have identified individuals and creative practices aligned with my interests, forming a roster for potential future collaborations.

The second stage transitioned from the research to the exhibition that took place during the Serendipity Arts Festival, Panjim, Goa, between 15-23 December 2023, where I worked directly with the Serendipity Team, to manage admin, communications and logistics to give form to my ideas. This phase proved to be a significant learning curve for me as unforeseen situations emerged, requiring me to adapt to changes and have contingency plans in place. A particularly notable challenge involved addressing the content of certain works, given the public nature of the festival and the complexities resulting from the current political landscape, necessitating me to navigate these conversations in the best way possible.

The exhibition titled The nights will follow the days was premised on the story of the haunting reappearance of a woman who allegedly returns to her home numerous times in her afterlife. This anecdote related to me by my mother after my uncle’s experience, long resonated with my interest in archives, personal recollections, and spectral landscapes - a repository of bodies, narratives and lived experiences, juxtaposed with the impermanence of materiality. This story also echoed with the very moving novel Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison, that I had recently concluded, and Anup Singh’s film Qissa (2013) that I have watched numerous times over the years; so in making this the foundation for the project, I expanded on the curatorial process and rationale. Through the works of the five featured artists, the narrative developed to further explore personal truths, displaced generational memories and histories affected by colonialism, migration and political landscapes, as coming from personal spaces of the artists themselves.

The fellowship spanning two countries, enabled the opportunity at an early stage of my career in the UK, to engage with artists from across borders and afforded me the opportunity to gain invaluable insights and independently curate a section for the festival, alongside other more established curators and galleries. Since the conclusion of this fellowship, several more opportunities have emerged, notably an invitation from Art Dubai 2024, inviting me as an international delegate to take part in the Invited Curators Programme. This experience has facilitated additional connections and laid the groundwork for future collaborations.

ASAP in collaboration with SAF and FSF has initiated a very important cross-border and cross-cultural conversation within the otherwise politically-charged South Asian regions. This opportunity for me has also highlighted the otherwise limited opportunities available for independent curators, and underscores the need for more spaces and organizations both in the UK and India to actively promote more such opportunities.