Amol K Patil [@amolkpatil] Is First To Recieve the DBF-KMB Award

Indian-origin artist Amol K Patil is the first recipient of the Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation/Kochi-Muziris Biennale (DBF-KMB) Award, a multi-year exhibition and lecture programme spotlighting South Asian artists. He was selected thanks to the formidable impression his The Politics of Skin and Movement installation left at the recent Kochi Biennale. 

As a part of the award, Patil is set to exhibit an iteration of The Politics of Skin and Movement at the Hayward Gallery in London this fall. Deeply personal, the exhibition explores the impact of caste and labor on Patil’s community’s identity, migration, and history. The artist relies on mixed mediums and strong narratives to activate viewers’ senses and to share his community’s narratives with depth and humanity. He pulls from his father and grandfather’s archival writings to shape a narrative for his community beyond struggle and discrimination. 

“The installation looks like a disjointed sequence of still images, but when you get closer, there are subtle movements. These movements are like meditations on the body’s senses; touch, sound, breathing, and other working processes, engaging with ideas of touch and skin politics,” says Patil.

The exhibition marks the reopening of the Hayward Gallery’s HENI Project Space. It is open to the public from 9 October to 19 November.

Discover more Arts and Culture articles here.