Delhi-based artist Asim Waqif will discuss his work and then participate in a panel discussion along with RISD faculty members Namita Dharia and Lili Hermann about sustainibility, environmentalism and more. Waqif studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. After initially working as an art director for film and television, he later started making independent videos and documentaries before moving into a dedicated art practice. His recent projects have attempted to span architecture, art and design, with a strong contextual reference to contemporary urban design and the politics of occupying/ intervening/using public spaces. Some of his projects have developed within abandoned and derelict buildings in the city that act like hidden activity-spaces for marginalized people. Concerns of ecology and anthropology often weave through his work, and he has done extensive research on vernacular systems of ecological management, especially with respect to water, waste and architecture. His artworks often employ manual processes that are deliberately painstaking and laborious while the products themselves are often temporary and sometimes even designed to decay. He has worked in sculpture, site-specific public installation, video, photography and more recently with large-scale interactive installations that combine traditional and new media technologies.

This event is sponsored by the Kirloskar Visiting Scholar in Painting program.

image credit: Richa Sahai