Peltz Gallery | Artists' Talk: Ravista Mehra & Divya Sharma
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
Join the two exhibited artists of Paper Cuts, Ravista Mehra and Divya Sharma. They will discuss their work to date, artistic education, and the ideas that permeate their creative practices.
“My work reflects on my journey as an immigrant, splicing together autobiographical and fictional narratives that re-imagine what it means to belong. I aim to spark conversations around themes of diaspora, migration, and the continued legacies of colonialism. Faced with histories that have been silenced by imperial regimes, I use my work to envisage new stories.”
— Divya Sharma
“I feel it’s my duty to ensure that the histories of my people are remembered. The history of India has so often been told from the perspective of the colonial powers that ruled it. It is time for a history of India formed out of the experiences of its people. We must uncover and share the stories of the colonised.”
— Ravista Mehra
Divya Sharma has a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from University of the Arts London and a master’s in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art. She is a founding member of The Neulinge Collective and The Post Colonials Collective and is the host of the ARTiculate podcast. She has co-curated shows in London and Karachi, and was featured in New Contemporaries at South London Gallery (London), alongside exhibitions at ReKontakt (Ankara), the NAE Open (Nottingham), Stephen Lawrence Gallery (London), the CroydonBID project (London), Koppel Studios (London), and the Collect Art Fair at Somerset House (London). Divya received Arts Council Funding in 2023.
Ravista Mehra is a research-driven, multilingual visual storyteller and educator from New Delhi, India, based in London. She has a BFA in Graphic Design, Comparative Literature and Creative Writing from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a master’s in Visual Communication from the Royal College of Art. Her practice lies in decolonising the human narrative through the interdisciplinary fields of graphic design, experiential design, and post-colonial history. In 2024, Design x Design selected Ravista as one of the top 20 designers in India under the age of 35, for her work in uplifting communities through respectful and human-conscious storytelling.
This event is part of Peltz Gallery's current exhibition Paper Cuts: Art, Bureaucracy, & Silenced Histories in Colonial India 25 April - 12 July 2024, 10am-8pm, Weekdays
Supported by Birkbeck Institute for Gender & Sexuality.
Contact name:
Surya Bowyer