Shaheen Merali

Shaheen Merali (born 1959) is a Tanzanian writer, curator, critic, and artist. Merali began his artistic practice in the 1980s committing to social, political and personal narratives. A regular speaker on ideas of contemporary exhibition making internationally, in 2018 he was the keynote speaker at the International Art Gallery of the Aga Khan Diamond Jubilee Arts Festival, Lisbon.

As an exhibition maker at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Merali curated several exhibitions accompanied by publications which he edited, including The Black Atlantic; Dreams and Trauma - Moving images and the Promised Lands; and Re-Imagining Asia, One Thousand Years of Separation. Merali was the co-curator of the 6th Gwangju Biennale, Korea (2006) and the co-curator of Berlin Heist or the enduring fascination of walled cities for the 4th Mediations Biennale, Poland (2014–2015).

In 1988, Merali co-founded the Panchayat Arts Education Resource Unit in and around Spitafields Market. The Unit's main function was one of collecting ephemera, documents and publications. The Panchayat archival material was donated and is now part of the Tate library's Special Collection in London. His family left India and arrived to Tanganyika in the early 20th century as part of the British colonial campaign to explore its colonial labour policy following its indentured labour policy. The South Asian labour was sent to East Africa to assist the further urbanisation and industrialisation of the East African territories. They implemented Merali's proposal of participation of five Black and Asian artists, living in Britain but coming from a global diaspora, to be included in what was, until then, the dedicated Southern World biennale. Returning from Cuba in 1988, Merali organised the works of the five artists, Sonia Boyce, Allan de Souza, Pitika Ntuli and Keith Piper alongside his own work to be exhibited in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, as well as at the Institute of Education, London. The experience in Havana formalised the working relationship of exhibition making and the possibility of archiving through curating.

Merali's commitment to the community education presented itself with further opportunities: in 1988 he became involved with a group of artists, Bhajan Hunjan, Symrath Patti, Allan de Souz a and Shanti Thomas, who initially met at the Slade School of Art to discuss the possibilities of an organisation in a self-funded way.

In 2008, after his contract with HWK ended, Merali was asked to design and facilitate a new gallery in Berlin for the Bodhi Group, which had spaces in Mumbai, Singapore and New York. He has started writing his debut fictional novel in 2019, as well as co-editing for the first volume (of six) in a series contingently titled Artefacts of Solidarity— Critical Pasts, Impending Futures, for London-based MAPT (Merali and Pachkhédé Texts).

Curatorial practice

1989-2003: Independent 1989

Distinguishing Marks, Bloomsbury Gallery, Institute of Education, London. With Sonia Boyce, Keith Piper, Allan de Souza, Pitika Ntuli. Five Black British Artists, Havana Biennale, Cuba. First intervention by Black artists from Europe at the Havana Biennale. Including participation by Sonia Boyce, Keith Piper, Allan de Souza, Pitika Ntuli, a.

1991

Siting Resistance, Embassy Cultural House, London, Ontario, Canada. Initiated by Jamelie Hassan, Ron Banner, with works by Sonia Boyce, Keith Piper, Allan de Souza, Pitika Ntuli. Group show from South Africa and Artists with (Dis)abilities, One Spirit Gallery, Haringey, London. One-person show by Chila Kumari Burman, One Spirit Gallery, Haringey, London.

1993

Forensic Fictions, ICA, London. Co-curated performance with Stuart Taylor.

1994

Extreme Unction, HIV/AIDS, RACE/ ETHNICITY, The Garage, Hoxton, East London. Performances and installations by Asian American artists Dan Kwong, Monica Chau, Paul Pfeiffer and Ken Chu / Scottish artist Alistair Maclennan. Screenings by Asian American film-makers at the National Film Theatre including Tran T.Kim Trang.

1995

Samena Rana, Diorama Centre, London. Posthumous exhibition on (dis)ability and photography. Insurgent Voices, Gallerie 101, Ottawa, Canada. Asian American artists working with HIV/AIDS, RACE/ETHNICITY. Installations by Ming Ma & Ken Chu and video works by Tran T. Kim Trang.

1996

Creative Futures Festival, University of Westminster. Richard Graville, Commercial Gallery, London. Clare Robins, Commercial Gallery, London. Gender and its Multiplicities, Watermans Arts Centre, London. Video screening around masculinity. Featured artists: Ming Ma, ManAct, Michael Petry, Keith Piper, Sarbjit Samra. Co-curated with Jeremy Mulvey.

1997

Videobox, University of Westminster Gallery, London. Video works by Black and Asian artists from Panchayat's archive. Foreign Vienna, University of Westminster Gallery, London. Photographic record of the changing demographic population of Vienna.

1998

Xenographic Views, Lisl Ponger, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, MA Space, London.

1999

unbound geographies/fused histories, A Space, Toronto; The Lethaby Gallery, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London. Featuring artists: Simon Tegala, Tanya Syed, Jin-Min Yoon, Enam Huque. Co-curated with Shelly Bahl and Marilyn Jung.

2000

Slow Release, Bishopsgate Goodsyard, London. Site-specific commissions around the notion of the garden. Featuring artists: Edwina Fitzpatrick, Simryn Gill, Dinh Q. Le. Co-curated with Janice Cheddie, Sharmini Pereira and Sally Tallant.

2001

Local Artists, AI-Saqi Bookshop, London, an exhibition of International artists living in London W2. Artists: Anna Thew, Robert Taylor, David Medalla, Caryle Reedy, Tina Keene. Co-curated with Mai Ghossoub. Martin, Spitz Gallery, London. Postgraduate students, Central Saint Martins.

2002

Ford, Oxford House, Ashley Gardens and 1&1, Three East London galleries. Post graduate students, Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design.

2006

Aug 9th – Nov 11th. The Sixth Gwangju Biennale 2006: Fever Variations, First Chapter. Gwangju Biennale Hall, Gwangju. Chief Curator Wu Hung, with Curators Shaheen Merali and Binghui Huangfu and Collaborating Curator Jacquelynn Baas. Featuring artists: Lida Abdul, Lise Autogena & Joshua Portway, Thomas Bayrle, Dove Bradshaw, Chen Chieh-jen, Choi Jung Hwa, Choi Min Hwa, David Hammons, Hong Lei, Michael Joo, Jitish Kallat, Akio Kamisato/Satoshi Shibata/Takehisa Mashimo, Kim Jong-ku, Kim Sang Yoen, Sun K. Kwak, Dinh Q. Le, Lee Jong Sang, Lee Soo Kyung, Lee Ufan, Shu-min Lin, Armin Linke, Susan Meiselas, Rei Naito, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Vong Phaophanit, Jean-Marc Pelletier, Qiu Zhijie, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Michal Rovner, Hiroshi Senju, Raqib Shaw, Chiharu Shiota, Shon Bong Chae, Song Dong, Manit Sriwanichpoon, Sissel Tolaas, Vasan Sitthiket, Suzann Victor, Chris Welsby, Whang In-kie, Miwa Yanagi, Zhang Dali, Zhang Huan, Zheng Liu, Xu Bing.

2003-2008: Haus der Kulturen der Welt

2004 The Black Atlantic – Travelling Cultures, Counter-Histories, Networked Identities, Exhibition Curator. Featuring artists: Isaac Julien, Keith Piper, Lisl Ponger, Tim Sharp. 2005 Dreams and Trauma – a film festival and moving images installations, an exhibition by twelve artists of Palestinian and Israeli origin, Exhibition and Film Curator. Featuring artists: Guy Ben-Ner, Yael Bartana, Ori Gersht, Talia Keinan, Sigalit Landau, Sharone Lifschitz, Rashid Masharawi, Rosalind Nashabishi, Nira Pereg, Karen Russo, Ruti Sela & Maayan Amir, Doron Solomons and Tanya Ury. 2007 New York States Of Mind – Art And The City, Exhibition and Film Curator. Featuring artists: Iona Rozeal Brown, Ian Burns, Laura Carton, Carolina Caycedo, CUP, Marcel Duchamp, Rainer Ganahl, Hans Haacke, David Hammons, Jonathan Horowitz, Tehching Hsieh, Kim Jones, Jon Kessler, Mark Lombardi, Mary Ellen Mark, Sarah Morris, Gordon Matta-Clark, Josephine Meckseper, Ana Mendieta, William Pope.L, Printed Matter, Inc., Elaine Reichek, Carolee Schneemann, Ward Shelley, Tavares Strachan, Kehinde Wiley, Fred Wilson, Jordan Wolfson, Terence Koh, Nikki S. Lee, Patty Chang. 2008 Re-Imagining Asia – A Thousand Years Of Separation, Film Curator and Exhibition Co-curator with Wu Hung. Featuring artists: Chiho Aoshima, Parastou Forouhar, Subodh Gupta, Andreas Gursky, Ikeda Manabu, Michael Joo, Johannes Kahrs, Bharti Kher, Kim Jongku, Kimsooja, Sun K. Kwak, Dinh Q. Lê, Miao Xiaochun, Ujino Muneteru, Gabriel Orozco, Rashid Rana, Ki-bong Rhee, Takako Saito, Shen Shaomin, Shi Jinsong, Song Dong, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Zhang Dali.

Bodhi Art 2008

Frontlines: Notations from the Contemporary India Urban, BodhiBerlin. Featuring artists: Subodh Gupta, Atul Dodiya, Zarina Hashmi, Jitish Kallat, Riyas Komu, Valsan Kolleri, Nataraj Sharma. Shilpa Gupta: Blindstars, Starsblind, BodhiBerlin. Everywhere is War (and rumours of war), BodhiMumbai. Featuring artists: Subodh Gupta, Jitish Kallat, Hema Upadhyay, Bharti Kher, Francesco Clemente, Jon Kessler, Sara Rahbar, Zarina Hashmi, Shilpa Gupta, Prasad Raghavan, Pablo Bartholomew, Rashid Rana, Sumedh Raghavan, Alicia Framis, Reena Kallat, Chitra Ganesh, Jaishri Abichandani, Anita Dube, Rina Banerjee, Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, Riyas Komu, Baiju Parthan, Vibha Galhotra, Amar Kanwar, Bose Krisnamachari. The Urban Spiel – a study of sculpture and material, BodhiBerlin. Featured artists: Paul Eachus, Rob Voerman and Sumedh Rajendran. Nataraj Sharma and N.S. Harsha at abc art berlin contemporary, BodhiBerlin. Jitish Kallat: Public Notice 2, BodhiSingapore. Riyas Komu: Related List, BodhiBerlin.

Meraliart 2009

Indian Popular Culture and Beyond, Alcalá 31, Madrid. Featured artists: Jaishri Abichandani, Shezad Dawood, CK Rajan, GR Iranna, Riyas Komu, Prasad Raghavan, Sara Rahbar. The Augmented Flaws, Kunstagenten Gallery, Berlin. Featured artists: Daniele Buetti, Rajkamal Kahlon, Jon Kessler, Leila Pazooki. The Dark Science of Five Continents, Gallery BMB, Mumbai. Featuring artists: Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tunga, George Osodi, Riyas Komu, Jon Kessler, Wang Qingsong. Eerie and languid, Artisterium09, National Museum Tbilisi, Georgia. Featuring artist: Laleh Khorramian, Carlos Amorales, Jean-Gabriel Périot. The Promise of Loss: a contemporary index of Iran, Brot Kunsthalle, Vienna. Featuring artists: Samira Abbassy, Iman Afsarian, Asgar/Gabriel, Masoumeh Bakhtyari, Shahram Entekhabi, Parastou Forouhar, Shadi Ghadirian, Babak Golkar, Peyman Hooshmandzadeh, Abbas Kowsari, Mandana Moghaddam, Amin Nourani, Sara Rahbar, Neda Razavipour, Behrang Samadzadegan, Rozita Sharafjahan, Jinoos Taghizadeh.

2010

The Promise of Loss: a contemporary index of Iran, Arario Gallery, New York. Featuring artists: Samira Abbassy, Iman Afsarian, Asgar/Gabriel, Masoumeh Bakhtyari, Shahram Entekhabi, Parastou Forouhar, Shadi Ghadirian, Babak Golkar, Peyman Hooshmandzadeh, Abbas Kowsari, Mandana Moghaddam, Amin Nourani, Sara Rahbar, Neda Razavipour, Behrang Samadzadegan, Rozita Sharafjahan, Jinoos Taghizadeh. Never Run Away, Stux Gallery, New York. Featuring artists: Reena Kallat, Sara Rahbar. East City: Kolkata Before the campaign, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata. Artist: Leena Kejriwal. Safe to Light, Azad Gallery, Tehran. Artist: Riyas Komu. 3 Voices in my head, Freies Museum, Berlin. Featuring artists: Ulrich Volz, Yvette Mattern, Gregg LeFevre. The Stalking of Absence (vis-à-vis) Iran, Tokyo Gallery + BTAP, Tokyo. Featuring artists: Reza Abedini, Matilda Aslizadeh, Bahar Behbahani, Ramesch Daha, Sarah Dolatabadi, Ghazel, Raha Rastifard, Newsha Tavakolian. The 11th Hour, An Exhibition of Contemporary Art from India/Diaspora, Tang Contemporary, Beijing. Featuring artists: Tariq Alvi, Madhu and Hazra Chitrakar, Shilpa Gupta, Tushar Joag, The Otolith Group, Baiju Parthan, TV Santosh, Tejal Shah, Sudharsan Shetty, Thukral & Tagra. Cinema Verite Redux, Sumukha Gallery, Bangalore. Featuring artists: Subba Ghosh, Ravi Kashi, Attila Richard Lucas, Parvathi Nayar, Charly Nijensohn, Prasad Raghavan, Marina Roy. Besides Paris, Birla Academy of Arts and Culture, Kolkata. Featuring artists: Narayanan Akkitham, Sujata Bajaj, Madhu Mangal Basu, Maya Burman, Sakti Burman, Utpal Chakraborty, Anju Chaudhuri, Rajendra Dhawan, Lakshmi Dutt, Debesh Goswami, Bhawani Katoch, Gadadhar Ojha, Sharmila Roy Pommot, S.H. Raza, Inderjeet Sahdev, Nitin Shroff, Jiwan Singh, Viswanadhan Velu. Twice is too much, Freies Museum, Berlin. Featuring artists: Hassan Hajjaj and Zak Ové. Tough Love: a series of promises, Plataforma Revólver, Lisbon. Featuring artists: Samira Abbassy, Arahmaiani, Marc Bijl, Cecília Costa, Agathe de Bailliencourt, Nezaket Ekici, Mathias Herrmann, Gregg LeFevre, Zak Ové, K P Reji, Isabel Ribeiro, Jinoos Taghizadeh. The Archivists’ Impatience, The LOFT, Mumbai. Featuring artists: Daniel G. Andújar, Pablo Bartholomew, Leila Pazooki, Jean-Gabriel Périot. Public Enemy Number 1, Exhibit 320, New Delhi. Featuring artists: Gordon Cheung, Radhika Khimji, Prasad Raghavan, Iona Rozeal Brown, Mithu Sen.

2011

when the moon is lying the sea weeps and dark safaris destroy the destroyed, India Art Summit, New Delhi. Featuring Artists: Madhu Mangal Basu, Koumudi Patil, Raha Rastifard, Sandip Pisalkar, Priti Vadhakkath, Nandan Ghyia. Entropic Sites, Shrine Empire, New Delhi. Artist: Leena Kejriwal. Regarding Iran, The Guild, Mumbai. Featuring artists: Amin Nourani, Barbad Golshiri, Farideh Lashaei, Mitra Tabrizian, Mohammad Hossein Emad, Peyman Hooshmandzadeh, Shirin Neshat. I saw that which had remained unseen, Azad Gallery, Tehran. Artist: Leena Kejriwal. The (Iranian) Weltanschauung, Freies Museum, Berlin. Featuring artists: Mehraneh Atashi, Navid Azimi Sajadi, Mahmood Bakhshi, Masoumeh Bakhtiary, Majid Fathizadeh, Parastou Farouhar, Farhad Fozouni, Ghazaleh Hedayat, Taha Heydary, Melodie Hosainzadeh, Katayoun Karami, Aria Kasaei, Majid K. Behesti, Azadeh Madani, Amir Mobed, Mehran Mohajer, Masoumeh Mozafari, Homan Nobakht, Sara Roohisefat, Atefeh Samaei, Rozita Sharafjahan, Mohamad M. Tabatabaie, Farideh Lashaei. The calculus of the dead load or "How one becomes what one is" (Nietzsche), THE LOFT, Mumbai.

2012

The International, as part of the Odyssey, 45 years with the collection, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata. Featuring artists: Jean Arp, Maurice Golubov, Nicholas Roerich, Louise Bourgeois, Olle Beartling, Adolf Fleischmann, Andre Masson, Amrita Sher-Gil, Augustus Rodin, Gustav Klimt, Pablo Picasso, Hedde Sterne. When Violence Becomes Decadent, Freies Museum, Berlin. Featuring artists: Sarnath Banerjee, Binu Bhaskar, Rajib Chowdhury, Samit Das, Natasha de Betak, Probir Gupta, Rajkamal Kahlon, Jitish Kallat, Leena Kejriwal, Simit Raveshia. The Indian Parallax, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata. Featuring artists: Shebba Chhacchi, Remen Chopra, Vibha Galhotra, Probir Gupta, Jitish Kallat, Reena Kallat, Chittrovanu Mazumdar, Manish Nai, Mithu Sen, Hema Uppadhyay. Refraction: Moving Images on Palestine, P21 Gallery, London. Featuring artists: Mohammad Al-Hawajri, Kamal Aljafari, Tayseer Barakat, Mike Hoolboom, Khaled Hourani, Khaled Jarrar, Josh Jones, kennardphillipps, Inzajeano Latif, Manal Mahamid, Laila Shawa, Nasser Soumi, Tarzan and Arab Nasser.

2013

(After) Love at Last Sight, Nezaket Ekici Solo Exhibition, Pi Artworks, London. Speaking from the heart - The Polemic Sensibility from Iran, Castrum Peregrini, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Featuring artists: Mehraneh Atashi, Navid Azimi Sajadi, Mahmood Bakhshi, Masoumeh Bakhtiary, Majid Fathizadeh, Parastou Forouhar, Farhad Fozouni, Ghazaleh Hedayat, Taha Heydary, Melodi Hosainzadeh, Katayoun Karami, Aria Kasaei, Majid Korang Beheshti, Amir Mobed, Mehran Mohajer, Masoumeh Mozafari, Homan Nobakht, Sara Roohisefat, Atefeh Samaei, Rozita Sharafjahan, Mohamad M. Tabatabaei. When Violence Becomes Decadent, ACC Gallery Weimar, Germany. Featuring artists: Sarnath Banerjee, Binu Bhaskar, Rajib Chowdhury, Samit Das, Natasha de Betak, Probir Gupta, Rajkamal Kahlon, Jitish Kallat, Leena Kejriwal, Simit Raveshia.

2014

Fragile Hands, a curatorial essay on stated subjectivities. University of Applied Arts, Heilingenkreuzer Hof, Refektorium and Sala Terrena, Vienna, Austria. Featuring artists: Mohammed Al-Hawajri, Palestine/Masoumeh Bakhtiary, Iran/Binu Bhaskar, India/ Madhu und Hazra Chitrakar, India/ Rajib Chowdhury, India/ Ramesch Daha, Austria &Iran/ Natasha de Betak, France &India/ Majid Fathizadeh, Iran/ Debesh Goswami, India & France/ Probir Gupta, India/ Ghazaleh Hedayat, Iran/ Taha Heydary, Iran/ Khaled Jarrar, Palestine/ Rajkamal Kahlon, USA, India &Germany/ Katayoun Karami, Iran/ Leena Kejriwal, India/ Amir Mobed, Iran/ Masoumeh Mozafari, Iran/ Tarzan and Arab, Palestine/ Charley Nijensohn, Argentina & Germany/ Amin Nourani, Iran/ Lisl Ponger, Austria/ Simit Raveshia, India/ Oliver Ressler, Austria/ Atefeh Samaei, Iran/ Rozita Sharafjahan, Iran/ JJ Xi, China & UK/. thumb Berlin Heist, the Enduring Fascination with Walled Cities, 4th Mediation Biennale, Where Somewhere Becomes Here. Featuring artists: Anonymous, Kader Attia, Marc Bijl, Nezeket Ekici, Azin Feizabadi+, Thomas Florschuetz, Carla Guagliardi, Johannes Kahrs, Jonathan Meese, Leila Pazooki, Julian Rosefeldt, Esra Rotthoff, Enis Rotthoff, Iris Schomaker, Lars Teichmann, Ming Wong, Michael Wutz.

2015

Make In India, Production and presentation of designer Prasad Raghavan work for the Indian Pavilion at Hannover Messe 2015.

Writing

Academic books 2001

«Going Native: revisited» in Beyond Frontiers: Contemporary British Art by Artists of South Asian Descent. Amal Ghosh and Juginder Lamba, eds. (London: Saffron Books, Eastern Art Publishing, 2001).

2002

«Anthology of art», Jochen Grez project on the web, What is your vision of an unknown art?. «Claiming Multiple Identities», 151M Newsletter 10/02, The Netherlands (with Mai Ghoussoub) & Abwab 31. «Panchayat», interarchive, editor Hans Ulrich Obrist, Kunstraum der Universitat Lunenburg, Verlag der buchhandlung Walther Konig, Kaln, 2002, 276–280.

2004

«Tehrancentric & Iraninity»,Far Near Distance – Contemporary Positions of Iranian Artists, co-edited by Shaheen Merali. Berlin: House of World Cultures. Interviews to Isaac Julien, Keith Piper, Lisl Ponger and Tim Sharp (German), The Black Atlantic – Travelling Cultures, Counter-Histories, Networked Identities. Berlin: House of World Cultures. «Curatorial Statement», The Black Atlantic – Travelling Cultures, Counter-Histories, Networked Identities. Berlin: House of World Cultures. "Fun is the new weapon, Gridthiya Gaweewong in conversation with Shaheen Merali and Annette Bhagwati", Spaces and Shadows – Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia, ed. Shaheen Merali. Berlin: House of World Cultures, 2005, 34 – 35. "States of Mind", New York States Of Mind – Art And The City, ed. Shaheen Merali. London: Saqi Books, 2008, 16–28. «Guilt Guilded in Gold», Voices of Change: 20 Indian Artists, ed. Gayatri Sinha. Mumbai: Marg Foundation, 2010, 266–281. «Between the Satanic Verses and the Axis of Evil», Voices of Change: 20 Indian Artists, ed. Gayatri Sinha. Mumbai: Marg Foundation, 2010, 198–211. "Delienating the vernacular", in Public Notice 3: Jitish Kallat at the Art Institute of Chicago, ed. by Madhuvanti Ghose. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University Press, 2011, 39 – 45.

2012

"Slower Lower Weaker", in The Unknown as you know it, ed. Marek Wasilewski. Poznan: University of Arts Poznan, 60–69.

2013

"The Untold (the Rise of) Schisms", InFLUX, Contemporary Art in Asia. Eds Parul Dave Mukherji, Naman P. Ahuja & Kavita Singh. Sage Publications India, 183–196.

2015

«The Spectre (of Knowledge): Recording the Vernacular», Contemporary Art from the Middle East, Ed. By Hamid Keshmirshekan, IB Tauris, 89–97. «The Spectre (of Knowledge): Recording the Cosmopolitan», Dissonant Archives, Contemporary Visual Culture and Contested Narratives in the Middle East, Edited by Anthony Downey, I.B.Tauris, 432–444.

2016

«(After) Love at Last Sight….Nezaket Ekici» The Live Art Almanac Volume 4. Edited by Harriet Curtis, Lois Keidan and Aaron Wright, Oberon Books London, 76–82. «Refractions: From Their Nemesis, the (Dis)obedience», CONFLICT AND COMPASSION A Paradox of difference in Contemporary Asian Art Edited by Bashir Makhoul and Alnoor Mitha, HOME Manchester, 143–160.

Catalogues 1999

Carte Blanche / the white papers. Lethaby Press & Panchayat. Editor and contributor.

2008

Eric Soeutre, France. Technology: Detection or Deception. Endword. Radical Postures. Panchayat Publication. ACE Funded. Spring 1998. Displaces, exhibition by Mai Ghoussoub and Souheil Sieiman. Saqi Books, London. India Crossing, Studio La Città, Verona. Essay: "India Crossing…The Discursive as an image".

2009

India Contemporary, Gem Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Den Haag. Essay 1: "Exposed Tendencies". Essay 2: "Guilt Guilded in Gold". Being, Spirit or Ghost, Gallery OED, Cochin, Kerala. Essay: "Being, Spirit or Ghost". Anomalies, From Nature to Future, Rossi&Rossi, London. Essay: "Diasporic Sciences", 9–16.

2010

Sara Rahbar, Carbon 12, Dubai. Essay: "Across Ideas, Across Continents". Blood and Spit - New Works by TV Santosh, Jack Shainman Gallery, NY. Essay: "The Chimera War".

2012

Navid Azimi Sajadi, Olcay Art Gallery, Caddebostan, Istanbul. Catalogue essay. The Indian Parallax 2012The Indian Parallax, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata. Editor and essay: "The Indian Parallax or the Doubling of Happiness: works in two-dimension and sculpture towards the third image – the abstract reality".

2014

Fragile Hands, A curatorial essay on stated subjectivities, University of Applied Arts, Vienna. Editor and key essay: "Fragile Hands, A curatorial essay on stated subjectivities". "Under Different Skies", Third Text (Issue 37). (1997) "Displaces", Third Text (Issue 39). (1997) "Extravagant strangers", Third Text (Issue 41, edited by Caryl Phillips). (1998) "Kay Hassan", Third Text (Issue 55, Summer 01). (2001) "Rashid Rana Interview", Indian Contemporary Art Journal. (2012) "The struggle for the Sublime", Art Tomorrow (issues 2–6). (2012) The Chitrakars; artisans amplifying the local contexts. Raw Vision. (2015) The Story Scrolls of Bengal | Raw Vision Magazine !!! On the critical decades and the role of archives. Shwetal Patel in discussion with Shaheen Merali. (2017) critical collective check

Artistic practice

Solo exhibitions

Channels, Echoes & Empty Chairs, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham and South London Gallery, London. Commissioned by Angel Row Gallery. (1993) Torchlights, Brick Lane Police Station, East london. Commissioned by the Whitechapel Art Gallery. (1994) Paradigms lost, Travelling Gallery, toured North and East Scotland as part of fotofeis 95. Commissioned by Scottish Arts Council. (1999) Dark Matters, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, Austria. (2000) Dark Matters II, Art Exchange, Nottingham. (2001) U blow me away, Window Gallery, Central Saint Martins, London (2001)

Group exhibitions

Box Project, The Museum of Installation, London, Turnpike Gallery, Leigh and Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham. (CD Rom Catalogue). (1999) Alien/Nation, Sixpack Films, Vienna, Austria. (1999) Translocation, Photographers Gallery, London and Institute for Research on the African Diaspora and Caribbean, City College of New York. (1999) Transforming the Crown, Bronx Museum of Art, New York, USA. (1999) Out of India, Queens Museum, Flushing Meadows, New York, USA. (1999) Men and Masculinities, James Hockey Gallery, Surrey Institute of Education, Farnham, Surrey. (1999) Zero Zero Zero, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London. (1999) The Crown Jewels, Kampnagel, Hamburg and NGBK, Berlin. (1999) Empire and I, Pitshanger Museum and Gallery, London and AXIOM centre, Cheltenham. (1999) Machos y Muecas, La Casa Elizaide, Barcelona. (1999) Ubudoda. Metropolitan Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. (2000) Chanting Heads CD Rom. Curated by David a Bailey & Sonia Boyce, AAVAA. (2001) Colored folks (performance), Toynbee Hall, London. Collaboration with Oreet Ashery. (2001) The Globe, Centre Beirut, Lebanon. Curated by Dave Beech. (2001) Whats wrong?, The Trade Apartments, London. (2001) Dressing, Readdressing, collaboration with Mai Ghoussoub. AI-Saqi Books, London. (2001) Host, Hastings Gallery and Museum. Curated by Mario Rossi. (2001) A Man, A Woman, A Machine, Centre of Attention, London. (2001) Site & Sight, Asian Civilisation Museum, Singapore. (2002) Hygiene, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Curated by Pam Skelton and Tony Fletcher. (2002)

Video screenings

I loose my voice in my dreams (45 mins). South London Gallery, London. (1993) I loose my voice in my dreams (45 mins). Galerie 101, Ottawa, Canada. (1994) Pandemonium, ICA, London; Rotterdam 97-26 Film festival, Holland; Desh Pradesh, Toronto, Canada; Whitechapel Open, Curtain Rd Gallery, London; KIZ- Kino, Granz, Austria; Scratch Projection, Paris, France; Tokyo 97-Image Forum, Festival, Tokyo, Japan; Pesaro 97-Film Festival, Roma, Italy; Hamburg 97–13. International Kurzfilm-Festival & No., Hamburg, Germany; Jerusalem 97-Film Festival, Jerusalem, Israel; São Paulo 97-Short Film Festival, São Paulo, Brazil; Austin 97. Cinematexas- Int. short film + video + new, Austin, USA.(1997) Exploding Cinema, Kenington, London. (1998) The post-colonial cities, curated by inIVA. The Lux Cinema, London. (1999) Colored Folks (18 mins) Colored Folks video and photographs. National Review of Live Arts. (2002) Paradigms Lost Pt. 1 (5 mins 10 Secs). (2002) 2016 (as performer) revisiting genesis (11 Episodes) (11 mins each) Written and Directed by Oreet Ashery, Stanley Picker Gallery and Online. (2002)