Awardee Update: Ankur Yadav

Ankur Yadav, a 2020 Fine Art Awardee, is an artist and poet based in Rajasthan. He recently completed a 11-month residency at Fondation Fiminco, Romainville, Paris, where he was awarded a Lifetime Grant.

He is also the recipient of the Prince Claus Seed Award (2022) and a Pro Helvetia residency at Rote Fabrik, Zurich (2022). In 2024, he was selected as a grantee of the Art for Hope program by the Hyundai Motor India Foundation and participated in the Transcultural Academy: Unfinished Publics – Art and Democracy at Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Germany.

His recent exhibitions include a solo show at Sukriti Gallery, Jawahar Kala Kendra, as part of Jaipur Art Week 2024, and the group exhibition Critical Zones: In Search of a Common Ground at Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi. His film was also featured in the Emami Art Experimental Film Festival (EAEFF) 2024.

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What sparked your love for art, and made you decide to pursue it as a career?

I initially approached art as a career path, but over time it became a way of understanding life and imagining other ways of living and thinking—often provoking discomfort within established structures and norms. Art has given me a space to question what might otherwise pass as ‘normal.’

It allows me to engage with what feels most urgent and necessary, both personally and collectively. In a world shaped by overlapping crises—inequality, climate change, social unrest— for me art becomes a space to reflect, respond, and reimagine.

My process has led me to explore diverse methods, both theoretical and material. My practice is deeply informed by literature, philosophy, socio-political thought, and daily life. These influences shape the questions I ask and the methods I use, enabling me to move across disciplines while remaining grounded in lived experience.

Your practice revolves around themes of subsistence in response to oppression and hierarchy. What interests you about this, and sparking these conversations through art in particular?

I work primarily in my native region of Behror, Rajasthan, as it offers lens to engage with urgent issues grounded in local realities. Once a pastoral landscape, this area has been profoundly transformed by industrial exploitation alongside intersecting systems of patriarchy, caste, and class. These forces have not only reshaped the physical environment but have also deeply affected everyday social relationships.

What draws me to themes of subsistence and resistance is the potential to expose what is often normalised, oppressive structures, and certain unquestioned norms. Through installation, film, poetry in public spaces, painting, and photography, my work explores alternative modes of representation that resist imposed hierarchies and challenge dominant narratives of power.

For example, in one project, I placed my poems near mining areas for farmers and miners to read in solitude. This work seeks to foster empathy and kinship with the ecosystem, creating a reflective space amid ongoing extraction and systemic violence, allowing for a deeper connection with the land.

What would your wish be, for emerging artists and the art scene in India?

All emerging artists come from different locations, understanding and wishes; they know their realities better than anyone else. However, when it comes to the art scene in India, some changes are needed. There must be support for artistic practices that are not commercially driven, along with visibility for these artists so they can sustain their practice.

Today, access and networking have become central to shaping artistic careers, but often in transactional and exclusive ways. It’s important to move beyond this model. Instead of reinforcing closed, insular groups, we need to cultivate open ecosystems rooted in empathy, collaboration, and sustained, long-term engagement.

What next? What ideas would you like to explore going forward?

In July 2026, I finished a 11-month residency program in Paris. The residency has provided me with a clearer understanding of how the art world functions—its systems, structures, and expectations. In the coming year, I have another 11-month residency at Jan Van Nyck in Netherlands, where I hope to connect more deeply with individuals and practices across disciplines.

At the same time, I continue to anchor and reflect back on my work in my native region, returning regularly to stay connected with the place. This ongoing movement between contexts allows me to reflect and deepen my engagement with the questions that matter most to me.

Looking ahead, I am in the process of considering and working alongside a collective in my region. I envision this as a space that brings together practitioners from diverse fields, including film, literature and local folk traditions to share, collaborate, and challenge one another in ways rooted in local experience.

Title: We are all soil. soil—the grave of all.
Year: 2024-2025
Technique: Video poems, Ceramics, and scenographic installation
Dimensions: L: 440 cm, B: 440 cm, H: 260 cm
Location: Fondation Fiminco, Romainville, Paris