Anita Agarwal London, United Kingdom
A multidisciplinary artist/curator/facilitator from India presently based in London. Archives and social histories inform a provocative approach to storytelling within her practice, which is dialogical, socially engaged and activistic in its approach. A feminist who through her art practice interrogates and pushes the socio-political parameters experienced in day-to-day life.
Having the opportunity to have travelled and lived in diverse cultures and geographies archives, and social histories inform a provocative approach to storytelling within my practice. My work explores the intersections and positions within cultures that are often mirrored in nuanced texts and everyday phrases; reasons of their existence and origins fascinate me, often becoming the starting point of my work. These cultures when in juxtaposition create interesting contrasts and patterns of intrigue and humour. I have studied at Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, The Arts Student League Of New York, The Chelsea College of Arts and Design, UAL, and most recently at the Royal College of Art, London.
Art provides me an opportunity to fiercely engage with the world through the lens of indigenous philosophies of oneness of everybody and everything and universality of my own land, in opposition to a western Anthropocene mindset/philosophy. Revolutionary thinkers like Donna Haraway , Silvia Federici, Toni Morrison and Gayatri Spivak prove to be the great beacons for my practice-led research providing me a 3rd plane/axis in kinship and assimilation.
Other major part of my practice is to initiate and collaborate, create spaces to reflect, imagine and strive for possible new (ideal) worlds. As well as create spaces where the responses to these reflections and imaginations can be possible. My commitment to keep an ongoing inquiry and re-evaluation of not only where and how contemporary art can be seen and experienced, but primarily by whom can it be seen, has resulted in collaborative curatorial endeavours such as SW11NDOWS and Hanover Space Project, the last being AP.AART.MENT77, which is a socially engaged and site specific pop-up residency.
