Arpita Akhanda

Born in 1992 to a family of artists who migrated from Bangladesh during partition to India and settled in Cuttack, Odisha, Arpita Akhanda studied painting from Kala Bhavana, Visva Bharati, graduating in 2017. Turning from painting to performance and mixed media, she explores the power and possibilities of the interdisciplinary approach. Her recent works are concerned with the problems of memory, history and migration. Working in a wide range of mediums that include paper weavings, performance, installation, drawing and video, she has been part of several national & international exhibitions.

Akhanda is a recipient of the artist in residency program at Jan Van Eyck Academie Residency, Netherlands (2022-23). She recently participated in Art Dusseldorf 2023. Akhanda was selected as the artist in residence at India Art Fair 2022 where she performed 360 minutes of requiem. She has recently performed Transitory Body: The Memory Collector at the opening ceremony of the group exhibition Rivers and Roads: Meandering Stories of India, Curated by Valeria Contarino, Pranitha Joseph and Zhu Yaning at AAIE Center for Contemporary Art, Rome in 2022 – 23.

Arpita Akhanda lives and works in Maastrict, Netherlands.

Academics

B.F.A from Kala Bhavana, Visva Bharati University in 2015 

M.F.A in painting from Kala Bhavana, Visva Bharati University in 2017.

Awards

Inlaks Fine Art Award  in 2022.

The Seed Award by Prince Claus Fund in 2022.

Inlaks Fine Art Award in 2022.

FICA and Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation 2021

Emerging Artist Award in 2020.

 State Award Fellowship in New Media from Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation, 2019