Devadeep Gupta
Absent River



Devadeep Gupta
B. 1989
Guwahati, Assam, India
My artistic work is centered around the exploration of regional ecological uncertainties, conveyed through a critical examination of institutionalized histories and contemporary mainstream perspectives. Inspired by site-specific occurrences, ancestral oral traditions, familial relationships and archival history, I explore forms of the intricate relationship between people and their land. Functioning in the intersectional space between conceptual and documentary, my artistic practice engages the convergence of historical narratives and community-based ecological interactions. In process, I aim to question state-induced development-centric initiatives tend to disregard the delicate web of coexistence embedded in local cultural contexts.
Feeling the need to extend beyond the confines and individuality of my artistic practice, I co-founded an artistic collective – Northeast Lightbox (NELB), with an aspiration to facilitate an inclusive, discourse-based platform on regional history. NELB serves as a platform for research-led conversations based on archival discourse, fostering dialogue among regional artists, academics, and audiences. Our archival focus lies on histories of local social-work groups, grass-root activist organisations, social mobility and pressure groups. Apart from archiving as a documentation practice, we aim to engage regional archives as potent artistic tools that challenge blanket perceptions while facilitating comprehensive dialogs through exhibitions, workshops and residencies. With a network of multidisciplinary collaborators, NELB acts as a bridge between historical facts and contemporary perspectives.
Currently based in Guwahati, India
vevaveev@gmail.com
Education
2017 – 2019 Master of Fine Arts
Bauhaus Universitaet, Weimar, Germany
2007- 2012 Bachelor of Architecture
School of Architecture and Landscape Design, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Species, Soil and Successors, Oyoun Cultural Centre, Berlin, Germany
Listening to the Land, Lecture Performance, Oyoun Cultural Centre, Berlin, Germany
Kaghazi Pairahan, Co-Curator, Protest Photo-Book Library contextual to South-Asian
Politico-culture scape in Rencontres d'Arles, France, produced by EditionsJOJO
and Double Dummy Studios
Inter-Archives Conversations, The Collective School, Asia Art Archives Northeast Lightbox and Malaysia Design Archives.
Sisters of Tezpur, Archival Exhibition Conception and Curation, Northeast Lightbox and Tezpur Mahila Samiti, Assam
Beyond Migration Forum, Goethe Institute, Kolkata, India
Emami Experimental Film Festival, Emami Art, india
Eyes That Saw Are Wide Shut, Archival Residency and Exhibition for North East Network,
supported by INLAKS India Foundation
Simultan Art Festival, Timisoara, Romania
Hongkong International Photo Festival, Hong Kong
Normalizing Disasters, Sudden Beams, UK
Fields of Vision, VAICA, New Delhi, India
Ostrale Biennale, Dresden, Germany
Climate, Changed, Nottingham, UK
Chronicles of an Inferno, Egaro Festival, India
Did You Mean Bauhaus, Gallerie Bernau, Berlin, Germany
Imaginary Bauhaus Museum, Schiller Museum, Weimar, Germany
Where Do You Go When You Leave, MAATI Centre, Guwahati, India
3rd Berliner Herbstsalon, Maxim Gorki Theatre, Berlin, Germany
DISPLA(Y)CED, Gallerie Alte Feuerwache, Dresden, Germany
2023
Selected Works
2022
2021
2020
2019
Awards and Grants
IAWS Archival Grant for Exhibition on Tezpur Mahila Samiti’s Archives, 2023
INLAKS Take-Off Grant, 2021
Bauhaus Annual Fine Arts Scholarship, 2018
Residencies
2019
Northeast Lightbox Residency, Majuli, India