Charan Singh

From Kothis, Giriyas, Hijras and Others – Photograph © Charan Singh

Charan Singh (b.1978) lives and works in New Delhi and London. His research and practice are informed by his involvement with HIV/AIDS work and community activism, and how it influenced LGBTQ+ politics in India. His work uses the media of photography, video, and text to explore his ‘pre-English language’ life, and is looking at languages, landscapes, and legitimacies of queer experiences while exploring the importance of storytelling and translation. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Royal College of Art, working on his practice-led thesis, entitled Going Sideways: An Act of Queer Resistance.

Singh’s latest exhibition (with Sunil Gupta), Dissent and Desire has been seen at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi, India 2018; at the Contemporary Art Museum Houston, (catalog), January-April 2018, and at SepiaEye, New York 2017. Singh was artist in residence at the FIAR, New York, July-August 2017. He earned a Magnum / Photo London award in 2016 for his portrait series Kothis, Hijras, Giriyas and Others. The Photoworks Annual (UK) featured the series in 2017. Visual Aids (New York) commissioned him to make a video work based in New Delhi in 2019. Singh’s work is in several private collections.

This bio was provided by the artist.