Born 1981 in Pamplemousse, Mauritius, Kumar lives and works in Bombay, India and Auckland, New Zealand.
Nandita Kumar is an artist that specialised in digital artist. She explores the way humans construct meaning from their experiences, by creating sensory narratives with the help of sound, video/ animation and performance, or through smartphone apps, customized motherboards and solar/microwave sensors. Through her installations, interactive sculptures, paintings and animations, Kumar reflects the striking contradictions within the industrial and natural landscape.
Kumar has been exhibiting across the globe, including LACMA, REDCAT, ISEA, Je de Paume, The New Zealand International Film Festival, Film Anthology Archive NY, Indian Art Fair, Rome International Film festival, Stuttgart Animation Festival, The Academy of Television Art and Sciences in Los Angeles and been included in Best of Sydney Underground Festival DVD. “Ghar Pe/At Home” (2011-2012), a community art project she curated, has been documented online by Asian Art Archive (Hong Kong). The Wall Street Journal, The Asian Age, Hindustan times, The Indian Express, Take on Art (India), Australian Art Collector have featured her work. Kumar has received the “Best Original Music” for her film Birth of Brain Fly at the Cinema Mundo festival in Brazil and has been screened twice on TVS Sydney. The Museum of Contemporary Art of Sydney and TEDx had the honour to host her as a speaker.
Kumar holds a joint Bachelors Degree from MS University, Baroda(India) and Elam School Of the Arts, Auckland University, New Zealand and has completed her Masters Degree in Experimental Animation at California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles, USA.
See more at: http://nanditakumar.com/
Exo-Evolution curated by Peter Weibel, ZKM | Museum of Contemporary Art (upcoming)
Tales & Fables from India & Japan, NID | Japan Foundation, IN | Yokohama Civic Art Gallery, Japan
Selected as a finalist for 24th Annual Wallace Art Awards 2015, New Zealand
Speaker: Public2015, ”Public Art in Action”; Perth
Form Public Art Initiative curated by Sharmila Wood, Perth
Group Show curated by Eveline Suter: One and one make eleven, Kunsthaus Langenthal(April), Switzerland
Group Show curated by Roobina Karode, KNMA Museum, Delhi
Special Projects curated by Girish Shahane, Indian Art Fair, Delhi
Group Show: History is, Lakeeren Gallery, Mumbai
2014
Pataka Art Museum: Traveling show of the Wallace Art Award
Selected as a finalist for 23rd Annual Wallace Art Awards 2014, New Zealand
Nominated for NTAA(New Technology Art Award), exhibition Biennial Update_5, Belgium
Jeu du Paume: “Erreur d’impression” curated by Alessandro Ludovico; Paris, France
Solo Exhibition: LET THE BRAINFLY, Gallery Lakeereen, Mumbai
Dhaka Art Summit: “Citizens of Time” curated by Veeranganakumari Solanki; Delhi,India
Indian Art Fair:hEliOpHiLic obSeRVatOry; Lakeeren Gallery, Delhi
Indian Art Fair:Public Sound Art Project-”Listen Up!”curated by Diana Betancourt and Tim Goosens; Delhi
2013
International Symposium of Electronic Art( ISEA presesented by ANANT); Sydney,Australia
Auckland Art Fair, Whitespace Contemporary Art Gallery; Auckland, NZ
India Design Forum: OTLO curated by architect Ashiesh Shah and Tejas Mangeshkar; Mumbai, India
Indian Art Fair: Polymorphic HumanScape, Lakeeren Gallery; Delhi,India
Group Show: Palette Art Gallery:Spell of Spill Utopia of Ecology, Curated by Veeranganakumari Solanki;Delhi,India
2012
Group Show: Cardinal Meridians: New Geometries of the Infinite, Gallery Lakeereen, Mumbai, India
Group Show: Mumbai Gallery Weekend : Bandra Taj Lands End, Mumbai, India
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, Anthology Film Archives, New York
Community Art Project(Dharavi Slums)- GHAR PE:Concept development and Installation, Mumbai, India
Indian Art Fair: ELEMENT: EARTH, Latitude 28, Delhi, India
Indian Art Fair: Tentacles of Dimension, video lounge, Delhi, India
2011
Enchanted Forest Installation: Launch of HERMES, Hermes Gallery, Mumbai, India
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, Theatron Open Air Festival, Munich, Germany
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, CologneOFF, Germany
Screening: Tentacles of Dimension, Anthology Film Archives, New York
ELA Installation: Bombay Electric, Mumbai, India
Screening: Birth of Brainfly ,The Cutting Room, Nottingham Playhouse, U.K
Indian Art Fair: Screening Birth of BrainFly, Video Lounge, Delhi, India
Group Show-The PILL curated by Avni Doshi, Latitude 28, Delhi, India
2010
Solo Exhibition: LET THE BRAINFLY, Latitude 28, Delhi, India
Art Tiger Project, Delhi, India
Screening: Façade Video Festival, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Screening: Tentacles of Dimension, Sydney Underground Festival, Australia
Screening: 42nd New Zealand International Film Festival, New Zealand
Group Show: Living Room curated by Pontus Kyander, NZ (video projections in CBD (Auckland city)
Group Show: Tentacles of Dimension, Innviertler Künstlergilde, Musicschule, Reid, Austria
Screening: Tentacles of Dimension, Tricky Women Film Festival, Vienna, Austria
Screening: Tentacles of Dimension, Linoleum Film Festival, Russia
Screening: Tentacles of Dimension, RedCat, LA
Screening: Techniques of the Observer, Mocha ArtHouse & Bombay Elektrik Project, India
2009
Curation: Film experimental film section, Festival SPIEL09; Austria
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, International Film Festival Hannover, Germany
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, Stuttgart Animation Film Festival, Germany
2008
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, Tricky Women Film Festival, Austria
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, Cinema Mundo – II Internacional Film festival, Brazil
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, Rome Film Festival, Italy
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, 7th Brisbane International Animation Festival, Australia
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, Sydney Underground Film Festival, Australia
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, 40th New Zealand International Film Festival
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences,LA
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, Natarani, Ahemdabad, India
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, Machine Project, Image & Sound from the South Asian Diaspora, LA
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival, Delhi, India
Screening: Birth of Brainfly, LACMA conjoint with Salvador Dali Show, LA
2006-2003
Group Show: 29025 Eveningside Drive, LA
Group Show: Artitak show at the St Benedicts Gallery, NZ
Community Art Project: “Gali Art”; India. A Street Art project, using art developed by village and slum children in Hauz Khas Village, Delhi to make direct changes in the community; Sponsor: Khoj International Artist Org, Delhi Art Gallery,
Group Show: Final Display, Elam School of fine Arts, NZ
Group Show: Pntg 404, the Union Building on the waterfront, NZ
Group Show: Buddabing 2003, Gulley Lounge Gallery, NZ
Commendations
Artist Talk: TEDx NSIT, India, 2012
Invited to do an Installation for the Launch of HERMES, 2011
Included in APT(Artist Pension Trust), 2011
Broadcast on TVS – Sydney’s, Tentacles of Dimension, 2009
Included on the Best of Sydney Underground DVD, 2009
Broadcast on TVS – Sydney’s , Birth of Brainfly, 2008
Best Original Music, Cinema Mundo, BR, 2008
Awarded Jules Engles Scholarship, LA, 2007
Awarded Ela Desai Scholarship, Baroda, 2003
Collaborations
Spiel Festival: Phillip Mayer and Martina Fender; Animation for John Cage Piece “Mesostics”, Austria, 2010
Suspend’s: Festival VIA la rue ;FR Art-Director, Visulaizer and Animator backdrop for dancers on walls , 2010
SURFACE: Seine de danse(video on tango), Director and Animator of experimental tango film commissioned my Surface, In-senso , Paris, 2010
Live Image Manipulation and light performer with experimental musician Peter Mayer, Cafe Museum, Passau, Germany, 2010
Story Boarding Artist and Conceptualizer for making a commissioned film by Wadada Leo Smith (Guggenheim Awardee), USA, 2009
Animation for INSENSO French dance company, Art-Director, Visulaizer and Animator backdrop for dancers on walls , Austria, 2009
Festival SPIEL09; Curation of experimental film section, Austria, 2009
Interactive Animation using processing with electronic sitar by Ajay Kapur; Karmetik; Waikato University & Museum @Massey University, Wellington; NZ, 2008
Animation Background for music recital for Sarah Phillips: CalArts; LA, 2008
“Menstrual Show” by Kendra Ware, . Animator and set visualisation, Theatrical Production: CalArts, LA , 2007
Animator: a Maureen Selwood Poem Project, 2007
Press and Reviews
Kultur Kompakt: Radio SRF Interview in Switzerland
Euro News: India Art Fair in New Delhi draws art-hungry middle class
Business Insider: Mumbai artist Nandita Kumar uses biomimicry to create artworks
Hindustan Times by Asad Ali: Meet artists whose work invited a third glance at India Art Fair
Neural Magazine: Artist interview
Art NewZealand: Wallace Art awards
Harper’s Bazaar Hotlist: Urban Saga
Yishu:Journal for Contemporary Chinese Art;Ghar Pe/At Home in the Margins of Contemporary Art by Atreyee Gupta
ARTSlant: Storyboarding the Mind: A Truly Trippy Immersion by Deepika Sorabjee
Mumbai Boss: Artist Nandita Kumar Explains Her Trippy New Show At Lakeeren Gallery
ART Practical,review by John Zarobell
The Wall Street Journal: “The India Art Fair for Novices” by Shefali Anand
Australian Art Collector by Alexandra Djurichkovic
Vogue: Vibe of the Month “New Directions” by Divya Menon
Indian Express: Review for Cardinal Meridians: New Geometries of the Infinite by Zaira Arslan
Asian Art Archive: “On Territoriality, Temporality, and the Politics of Place” by Atreyee Gupta
TimeOut Mumbai: “Playing House” by Prerna Makhija
Mumbai Mirror: “Dharavi’s home truths” by Reema Gehi
Welcome Trust: Art and health in the slums: exploring the health concerns of Mumbai’s poorest communities
Art Tribune: Delhi Updates: primi bilanci dell’India Art Fair, che chiude a 150mila visitatori. by Giulia Ambrogi
Take on Art Magazine: The Pill review by Meera Menzes
Varta Magazine: The Pill review by Meera Menezes
Catalogue “The PILL” curated by Avni Doshi
Asian Age: Review for Solo-Let the BRAINFLY; “It’s All in your Head” by Dr Seema Bawa
Time Out Delhi: Cerebral Celebration by Shweta Upadhyay
Indian Express: Making a Mark by Georgina Maddox
Unboxed Writers: Medium Matters by Poonam Goel
The Daily Pioneer: Experiment is the Keyword
Times of India: “Beyond Anish” by Amitava Sanyal
Residencies/ Workshops
Art Omi International Artist Residency, New York
Residency: Goenka Art Camp, India
See more at: http://nanditakumar.com/