Reena Saini KALLAT Indian, b. 1973
Hyphenated Lives (Rufous- bellbird), 2024-2025
Gouache, charcoal, pencil and electric wire on paper
56.5 x 75.6 cm
22 1/4 x 29 3/4 in
22 1/4 x 29 3/4 in
Reena SAINI KALLAT’s (b. 1973) practice spans drawing, photography, sculpture and video. Kallat’s interest in political and social borders—and their violent impact on land, people, and nature—resonates with the continuing...
Reena SAINI KALLAT’s (b. 1973) practice spans drawing, photography, sculpture and video. Kallat’s interest in political and social borders—and their violent impact on land, people, and nature—resonates with the continuing aftershocks of the Partition in India, which her paternal family experienced. Kallat has researched various histories of migration, the plunder of shared natural resources for national gain, and archives of disappeared people. The idea that barriers can be transformed and overcome is strongly pronounced in Kallat’s work: where there is contact there is exchange and fusion.
The series 'Hyphenated Lives' reimagines fantastical mutations within the natural world, where hybrid species of birds, animals, trees and flowers (often claimed as national symbols) are symbolically combined. The hyphen becomes a bridge, uniting the otherwise divided nations they represent. Reena Kallat turns to non-human species to remind us how to share the planet, where the survival of one depends upon another, and the loss of one species harms the rest. A recurring motif in these works is the electrical cable, conduits of contact that transmit ideas and connect people. Painstakingly woven, they transform into tangled forms resembling barbed wire, evoking both connection and division. These explorations of independence and interdependence, within ourselves and between neighbours or nations, invite reflection on the bonds and borders shaping our shared existence.
Her work has been widely exhibited at institutions around the world. Upcoming and recent solo exhibitions include Musée de l’Homme, Paris, France (2024-2025), Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2024 - 2025), Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland (2023), Compton Verney, UK (2022), Firstsite, UK (2022), Norrtalje Konsthall, Sweden (2021), The National Museum of Asian Arts – Guimet, Paris (2020); the Manchester Museum (2017) and Offsite, Vancouver Art Gallery (2015). She will be included in the 15th Bienal de la Habana (2025) and has participated at the Sharjah Art Biennale (2023), Bangkok Art Biennale (2020); Havana Biennial (2019); Busan Biennale (2016), Goteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (2011), the Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale (2011), the Asian Art Biennale, Taiwan (2009) amongst others.
Her work was included in group exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York; Tate Modern, London; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; SITE SantaFe, New Mexico; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, Milan; MOCA, Shanghai; Busan MOMA amongst several others. Her works are part of several public and private collections including Musee de Beaux Arts, Ottawa; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Museum Arnhem, Netherlands; Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio; Manchester Museum, UK; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung; Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada; Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE.
The series 'Hyphenated Lives' reimagines fantastical mutations within the natural world, where hybrid species of birds, animals, trees and flowers (often claimed as national symbols) are symbolically combined. The hyphen becomes a bridge, uniting the otherwise divided nations they represent. Reena Kallat turns to non-human species to remind us how to share the planet, where the survival of one depends upon another, and the loss of one species harms the rest. A recurring motif in these works is the electrical cable, conduits of contact that transmit ideas and connect people. Painstakingly woven, they transform into tangled forms resembling barbed wire, evoking both connection and division. These explorations of independence and interdependence, within ourselves and between neighbours or nations, invite reflection on the bonds and borders shaping our shared existence.
Her work has been widely exhibited at institutions around the world. Upcoming and recent solo exhibitions include Musée de l’Homme, Paris, France (2024-2025), Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2024 - 2025), Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland (2023), Compton Verney, UK (2022), Firstsite, UK (2022), Norrtalje Konsthall, Sweden (2021), The National Museum of Asian Arts – Guimet, Paris (2020); the Manchester Museum (2017) and Offsite, Vancouver Art Gallery (2015). She will be included in the 15th Bienal de la Habana (2025) and has participated at the Sharjah Art Biennale (2023), Bangkok Art Biennale (2020); Havana Biennial (2019); Busan Biennale (2016), Goteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (2011), the Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale (2011), the Asian Art Biennale, Taiwan (2009) amongst others.
Her work was included in group exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York; Tate Modern, London; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; SITE SantaFe, New Mexico; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, Milan; MOCA, Shanghai; Busan MOMA amongst several others. Her works are part of several public and private collections including Musee de Beaux Arts, Ottawa; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Museum Arnhem, Netherlands; Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio; Manchester Museum, UK; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung; Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada; Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE.