Biography

Archana Hande reflects on the nuances of growing up in the shadow of colonialism in India and the reproduction of power through industrialisation. Raised in Rourkela—an industrialist township in post-independence India—she began to question early how one understands oneself in a postcolonial schema. In her practice, desire and memory become a single complex pattern of shadows and lines. Through sepia photos and surveillance images, she also explores the relationship between labour and human migration.

Hande’s work has been presented at Kochi-Muziris Biennale-5, 2022; The Sculpture Park project, Jaipur 2019; Chennai Photo Biennale, 2019; Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum (2014, 2018); Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai (2000,2007,2016); Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, 2016; The 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, 2008, among others.

She has participated in the international art exchange spaced 2: future recall, Perth, Australia (2013–2015); a research residency at Pro Helvetia, Zurich (2010); and the Majlis Fellowship for Visual Arts, Mumbai (2007–2008). She received a Charles Wallace India Trust Arts Award for a residency at the Glasgow School of Arts (2000–2001).

Hande holds a BFA in Printmaking from Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan (1991), and an MFA in Printmaking from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda (1993). Born in 1970 in Bangalore (now Bengaluru), she lives and works between Mumbai and Bengaluru.

SAF participation:
Sharjah Biennial 15 (2023)

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