Sunara Begum

Sunara Begum (; born 22 September 1984) is an English visual and performance artist, filmmaker, photographer and writer of Bangladeshi descent. She uses installation, film, photography, live performance, sonics and text. Begum is the founder and director of Chand Aftara, a creation centre. Begum is also the co-founder of Living Legacies, a traditional music archive in Gambia, and New Horizons Africa, a music and arts festival in Lagos, Nigeria.

Early life Begum was born in London, England. She was encouraged to pursue the visual arts by her mother, who from an early age would recite stories of growing up in the villages of Bangladesh. Begum is of Bangladeshi descent In 2008, she graduated from Central St Martins College of Art and Design, where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts. Whilst at Central St Martins College, she spent much of her time recording various visual projects on both abstract and narrative based subject matter, in order to extract, explore and express her artistic vision, primarily through photography and film. This has been followed by several short films and feature documentaries. Memories of My Mentor (2017) was written, produced and directed by Sunara Begum. In 2016, Truth & Art was screened at the Lights, Camera Africa!!! film festival in Lagos, Nigeria. In 2015, Truth & Art was selected to appear at the 5th Annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in Lagos, in November 2015. New Horizons Africa (2016), New Horizons Africa (2015), Night Paintings (2014), The Pilgrim Within (2013), a documentary series entitled, Truth & Art (2013) featuring three international artists from three continents, Visions of a Traveller (2012), The Brodsky Quartet (2012), Nomadic Mystics (2012), African Classical Music (2012), The Water's Will (2011), One Take Wonders (2011), Ara Trilogy (2010), When Night Falls (2010), The Road to Basilique (2010), The World of Tunde Jegede (2010), Menantol (2009), Ara's World (2008), Ara's Sojourn (2007), Our Story Our Voice (2007), The Idea (2006), Justice for the Youth (2002).

Begum has continued to develop her own visual narrative-led language on many large-scale projects for productions including, Ancient Futures, which has toured internationally, African Messiah at the Royal Opera House, London, Visions of a Traveller at Lyon Opera House and The Planetarium for La Musée des Confluence in Lyon.

Personal life Begum lives and works in London. She spends much of her time in West Africa working on New Horizons Africa (co-founder), an international music and arts initiative based in Lagos, Nigeria, and Living Legacies (co-founder), a traditional music archive in the Gambia. Begum divides her time between producing international projects and her own artistic practice as a visual and performance artist. She is the founder of Studio Chand Aftara, an artist's collective dedicated to the exhibition and production of experimental cinema and a space of cultivation, archive for radical, anti-colonial wellness. Her work has been widely exhibited in film festivals, museums, galleries and cinematheques worldwide. Begum is a regular practitioner of yoga, meditation and the healing arts and often visits solitary retreats in the UK, India and West Africa. She is a pescatarian and fasts twice a week, a practice that has been passed down from her mother.

Filmography Film

Performance / Stage

Novels, CD & DVD