The Art of the Maker - Sutapa Biswas

Having previously exhibited at Arnolfini in the 1990s, artist Sutapa Biswas was invited to participate in Arnolfini’s 60th anniversary programme. The resulting exhibition is currently on display until 13th February. This event, however, will focus on Biswas’ major new film commission, Lumen, which links together the emigration of the artist’s family from India to Britain, with the colonial legacies shared by the two countries. Drawing on archival footage, newly shot material, and a central dramatic monologue, Biswas has described the film as ‘trying to understand the taste of what is left in the lives of people who are disenfranchised because of imperial histories’. The event will include a special screening of Lumen, followed by an in-conversation with the artist.

Sutapa Biswas (b. 1962), is a British Indian artist, whose work is recognised nationally and internationally. Her art engages with questions of identity, race and gender in relation to time, space and history. Inspired by oral histories, literature and art history, she is particularly interested in the ways in which larger historical narratives collide with personal narratives.

Lumen is on show at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge until 30 January. The work will be presented in 2022 in Bristol at Red Lodge. It was co-commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge and BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art with Art Fund support through the Moving Image Fund for Museums, additionally supported by Autograph and Arts Council England.

The Art of the Maker series is a collaboration between Arnolfini and The School of Art & Design and Centre for Fine Print Research at UWE Bristol.