International Exhibition 2023

17 February – 16 April 2023

General Public, Free Admission, Monday to Friday, 10AM – 5PM or by appointment (contact roslarts@rosl.org.uk)

Isabella Agbaje | Joey Chin | Viil Coward | Madhu Das | Nisha Duggal | Muhammad Amdad Hossain | Tirtha Lawati | Shake Makelele | Cole Ndelu | Samuel Nnorom | Shubhodeep Roy and Dimple B. Shah

International is a survey show of twelve ROSL supported artists from the past decade; Isabella Agbaje, Joey Chin, Viil Coward, Madhu Das, Nisha Duggal, Muhammad Amdad Hossain, Tirtha Lawati, Shake Makelele, Cole Ndelu, Samuel Nnorom, Shubhodeep Roy and Dimple B. Shah, raising awareness of the important work that the Royal Over-Seas League has done in establishing many artists far and wide.

The roots of the current visual arts programme originate from the launch of the ROSL Annual Exhibition in 1984. The longest serving visual arts purchase prize was formed just one year later and is still awarded annually to a graduating student in MA Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art, gifted to the winner of the Annual Music Competition Overseas Awards. Exhibiting artist Viil Coward was the recipient of this prize in 2017, awarded to cellist Abel Selaocoe.

ROSL PHOTO is a biennial Photography Competition running since 2019 which is completely free to enter and a wonderful opportunity to discover some new global photographic talent with £3,500 of prize money (applications for ROSL PHOTO 23 open on 20 March 2023, see rosl.org.uk/photography for details). On display are new works from previous winners Isabella Agbaje (2019) and Tirtha Lawati (2021). This competition also established The Madiha Aijaz Prize, awarded to a young photographer of promise in memory of Madiha Aijaz (1981 – 2019), ROSL’s 2017 visual art scholar with Hospitalfield, Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art and Open Eye Gallery. Both Muhammad Amdad Hossain (2019) and Shubhodeep Roy (2021) were recipients of this prize – selected images from their subsequent projects can be seen here, Hossain’s aerial flood photography in Bangladesh and Roy’s photographic essay ‘Varanasi: A Place Where Death is Celebrated’.

Since 2000, ROSL has been committed to artist-in-residence opportunities for international artists to present and promote their work in the UK for the first time. In 2010 Shake Makelele completed a residency at Hospitalfield, Arbroath, exhibiting work in a group exhibition at OXO Tower, London along with other ROSL visual art scholars. Over the past five years two participants are selected annually to develop their practice during a two-month stay across The Art House, Wakefield and ROSL each autumn. Work from previous residents Joey Chin (2018), Cole Ndelu (2019), Dimple B. Shah (2019) and most recently Madhu Das (2022) and Samuel Nnorom (2022) are exhibited here. A solo exhibition by Samuel Nnorom, ‘The Politics of Migration and Integration’ is on display in the Main Gallery at The Art House from 11 February until 12 March 2023.

In 2021 ROSL received a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, naming Nisha Duggal the first Royal Over-Seas League Artist-in-Residence working both at Over-Seas House and in partnership with the Griffin Schools Trust, providing artist workshops relating to heritage and identity for Year 5 pupils (8 – 10 years old) at Riverley Primary School in Leyton, East London. International presents the collaborative flags, collectively titled Landed (2021), in response to the school heritage workshops and In Residence (2021) – a short film shot inside the interior spaces of Over-Seas House and screened during Braziers International Film Festival, Oxfordshire (2022); Love Story Film Festival, London (2022); Madras Independent Film Festival, India (2021); Tagore International Film Festival, India (2021) and Marudham Indie Film Festival, India (2021).

For further information and exhibition sales enquiries contact roslarts@rosl.org.uk

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Isabella Agbaje (b. 1993, Lagos, Nigeria) lives and works between Lagos, London and the United States of America. Isabella studied at Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA (2015); Dublin City University, Republic of Ireland (expat year 2014) and Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja (2010). She has previously exhibited in multiple Lagos Photo Festivals curated by the African Artists Foundation (AAF) (2018/2019); ‘In Conversation: Visual Meditations on Black Masculinity’ curated by MFON Women Photographers of the African Diaspora (2019); ROSL PHOTO 19 (2019) as well as a solo debut at Alliance Francaise de Lagos (2018).

Joey Chin (b. 1986, Singapore) is a writer and artist in Singapore. She holds a MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from the City University of Hong Kong, and her work has received scholarships, grants and awards from numerous organisations including Korea Arts and Culture Education Services, Seoul (2022, 2021), Asia Europe Foundation (2019), Royal Over-Seas League, London (2018), National Arts Council, Singapore (2016, 2015), Run Run Shaw Library, Hong Kong (2015), Society for Humanistic Anthropology in the US (2015) and the Dorothy Cheung Foundation, Singapore (2012). Her writing on art, artist exercises and criticism can be found in Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong (2022), Prospect Art, Los Angeles (forthcoming and in 2021), and the visual culture journal, Anima Loci, London (2020).

Viil Coward (b. 1990, Oslo, Norway) lives and works in London and Hertfordshire. Viil studied at Royal College of Art (2017) and Falmouth University (2015). She has previously exhibited in Glasrijk Tubbergen in Netherlands (2017) and London Design Fair (2017). Recognising her work as a developing Artistic Talent, she was awarded the Diversestipend by the Norwegian Kulturråd in 2018.

Madhu Das (b. 1987, Karnataka, India) lives and works in Mumbai, India. Das studied at the S N School of Fine Arts and Communication, Central University of Hyderabad, India (2013) and College of Fine Art, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, Bangalore, India (2008). Current exhibitions and residencies include Natasha (Extended Asia) Singapore Biennale 2022; The Art House, Wakefield, UK (2022); Space-Media-Voice curated by PAWA & In process collective, Wellington, NZ (2021); Serendipity Arts Festival, India (2019); Arthur Bunder Press, Chatterjee & Lal, India (2019); Sapporo Tenjinyama Art Studio, Japan (2019); (IN)Sessions, Delfina Foundation, London (2018); Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taiwan (2018); Harvard South Asia Institute, Cambridge, USA (2017); The Conflicted Issue of Change and Urbanism, curated by Gayatri Sinha at Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, India (2014); Sarai Reader 09, curated by Raqs Media Collective at Devi Art Foundation, India (2013); Post-Oil City: The History of the City’s Future, Curated by Elke Falat, Vishweshwaraya Museum / Goethe-Institut /Max Mueller, India (2013); Kochi – Muziris Biennale, India (2012); TIFA Working Studios, India (2016); T.A.J. Residency & SKE Projects, India (2015); Theertha International Artists Collective, Sri Lanka (2010) and Sandarbh Artist Residency, India (2009). He was the recipient of the Emerging South Asian Artist by The Art Family, London (2021); Generator Grant, Experimenter Gallery, India (2021); Emerging Artists Award, FICA/ Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation, India (2020); Inlaks Fine Arts Award, India (2015) and was selected by Harvard South Asia Institute for the Emerging South Asian Visual Artists Program, Boston, USA (2016).

Nisha Duggal (b.1979, Stoke on Trent, UK) lives and works in London. Nisha studied at the University of Derby (2001) and The Slade School of Fine Art (2009).  Current exhibitions include a solo presentation at Modern Painters New Decorators.  Previous projects include residencies for In Situ (2022), The National Trust (2019) and Walthamstow Wetlands (2018), a new commission, Wanderings for the NHS (2023).  Exhibitions include Unmasked, PEER (2021), Things to make and do, Watermans (2011), Dislocate, Ginza Art Lab, Tokyo (2007), The 16th Mostyn Open (2006), You shall know our velocity, Baltic (2006) and Immediate 3, Site Gallery (2005).

Muhammad Amdad Hossain is a Bangladesh-born visual artist, his curiosity has led him to an utter passion for photography. As a photographer, his essential aim is to capture the moments of life and give them significance by making them static in time. Amdad loves to travel and meet different places and new people. He enjoys the experience that photography offers, which is to capture Earth’s beautiful and awe-inspiring moments. He also loves to experiment with his photography. Muhammad’s work has taken part in many International Photography contests, and to date, he has won more than 150+ international photography awards. His photographs were published in more than 100 well-known international newspapers & magazines, including The Guardian, Chiiz Magazine, Insider, Forbes, Ze.TT, National Geographic, Elespectador and BBC Science Focus Magazine.

Tirtha Lawati (b. 1997, Panchther, Nepal) lives and works between London and Rugby. Tirtha studied at London College of Fashion UAL (2016-2019). He has previously exhibited at Royal Over-Seas League, London (2021); Four Corners Gallery, London (2019). Lawati has been published in Vogue Italia and Dazed.

Shake Makelele (b. 1966, Taita, Taveta District, Kenya) lives and works in Kenya, he studied at Creative Arts Centre, Nairobi, Kenya (1994) and is also an educator. Exhibitions include The Nest, Baby Village, Runda, Kenya (2016-2020), Affordable Art Show, Nairobi National Museum, Kenya (2013-2020) and Karen Blixen Museum, Nairobi, Kenya (2017). His work is held in many public collections including American Psychological Association, Washington D.C., USA; East African Cooperation Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania; Kitololo Consults, Nairobi, Kenya; Anshul Nagar Collections, Mumbai, India.

Cole Ndelu is a photographer, creative director and contemporary artist currently based in Durban, South Africa. Cole graduated in 2016 from the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography with a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication, majoring in Photography. Her work occupies the intersection between art, fashion, documentary, and spirituality, and explores the themes of vulnerability, self-care, justice, and space.  In 2017 she was both a Finalist and Commended Photographer at the Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) for her projects #blackboyjoy and Pride in the Panther. The SWPA exhibition launched in London before travelling to 16 countries. Since then, she received a Getty Images Creative Bursary Grant (2018), ROSL International Artist Residency with The Art House, Wakefield (2019); Artist Protection Fund Fellow 6-month fellowship with the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts (2021) and a 4-month residency at the  American Academy in Rome (2021).

Samuel Nnorom (b.1990, Abia, Nigeria) lives and works in Nsukka, Nigeria. Samuel is currently studying MFA Sculpture from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and is a full-time practising studio artist with many awards, exhibitions and residencies: Selected exhibitions include Galerie Revel, Collect Art Fair, London (2023), The Art House UK , Solo Exhibition The Politics of Immigration and Integration (2023); Koop Project, London Art Fair (2023); Kate-Ferri Project, Dark Matters, New York (2023); Saatchi Gallery, Art for Change, London (2022/2023); Tiwani Contemporary, Artx Lagos (2022); Galerie Marion Chauvy, Also Known AS African (AKAA) Art Fair Paris (2022); Alexis Gallery, Recycle Matter, Lagos Nigeria (2022); Ko Artspace, Matters of Essential, a Salon Show, Lagos Nigeria (2022); Gallery Marion Chauvy, Voices of Textile  Paris, France (2022); Gallery At The Landmark, Wielding Power, joint exhibition Lagos Nigeria (2021); Rele Art Foundation, Exhibition of Young Contemporary Artists Ekiti Nigeria (2021).

Shubhodeep Roy (b. 2001, Kolkata, India) lives in Kolkata, India. Shubhodeep studied at the University of Calcutta (2022).  He is an award-winning documentary photographer whose works have been exhibited in various international exhibitions including, The Cities We Want, United Nations Climate Change Conference (2022), FIAP World Photographers Conference at Cities of the World International Photography Exhibition (2022), 13th Annual Edition Of The Festival Of Ethical Photography (2022), The Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (2022), ROSL PHOTO 21, Royal Over-Seas League, London (2021), 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2021), European Union Delegation to the Council of Europe (2021), and various other photography festivals and international events around the world.

Dimple B. Shah (b.1973, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India) lives and works in Bangalore, India. Dimple studied at MS University, Baroda 2001 Ken School of Arts 1998.  Recent exhibitions include Krupa Art Gallery, Wroclaw, Poland 2021; The Art House, Wakefield, curated by Sunil Shah 2019; Manchester Contemporary Art Fair 2019; ‘The Weitere Weiterreichung’ in Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin 2019 curated by Deborah S. Philips. Solo shows include Katharsis in forbidden zones, Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad, 2013 and Sumukha Art Gallery 2010. Uncertainty Woodcut at Chitrakala Parishath Bangalore, 2021; Narayani at Galerie Romain Rolland of AF Delhi, curated by Akansha Wadhwani 2021; Akashaya Patra –International Women’s Day Exhibition curated by Akansha Wadhwani Ravindra Bhavan Delhi 2021; Yajnaseni curated by Akansha Wadhwani at RKG Art and cultural Center New Delhi 2021; I Rise, 7th Edition International women’s day, Art Houz  Bangalore  2021; Drawing Show-Part 1 at Gallery Sumukha Bangalore 2021.