Born in Tanzania, Dipesh Pandya started his [im]migrant journey at the age of three, taking him to England, France, America and India. Sound, music and experimental writing techniques are integral to his artistic practice, drawing from research and reflection on ethnopoetics, sonics, cultural memory, sensory and auto-ethnography, ritual, incantation and linguistics.
Pandya makes work using performance, spoken word, immersive multi-sensory installation, sound, text based video and clothing. Through a range of alter egos he explores disembodied chronologies, cosmologies and ghosts found in the oral and sonic histories of Global South and diasporic identities. Thinking through the politics of the street by using conversation and sound in public space as generative sites for research, performativity and dissemination through acts of dissent, protest and refusal; celebrating living archives and exploring alternative methods for archival practice.
Of East African South Asian heritage, his mother tongue is Gujarati; other tongues are Hindi, French and English. He currently lives and works in Cliftonville, Margate, on the south-east coast of England.
Commissions
2024
Let The Record Show III
live performances and installation staged from a car, transforming it into a sonic sculpture activated through spoken word,
commissioned by Alserkal Avenue for Quoz Arts Fest 2024, Dubai
2023
I.A.M. THESE PEOPLE
sonic takeover, a twelve hour collaborative playlist, part of Refugee Week 2023
the cafe at Turner Contemporary, Margate
2022
Black Case Volume III after Joseph Jarman
immersive, multi-sensory audiovisual installation
video: Tiger Vision (2021)
incantation: Tr̶igg̶er Warning! Tr̶igg̶er Warning! (2020) by Swan Nemesis
soundscape by Nina Radio Tapes + Ice Cream Mafia
commissioned by Cement Fields for Whitstable Biennale 2022
Sâdhanâ
series of live performances by Swan Nemesis
commissioned by Cement Fields for Whitstable Biennale 2022
Muhâjir
site specific installation
incantation: Vilayat (2021) by Swan Nemesis
commissioned by Cement Fields for Whitstable Biennale 2022
for Lawrence
site specific installation
commissioned by Cement Fields for Whitstable Biennale 2022
I.A.M. THESE PEOPLE
participatory nomadic street cafe in Cliftonville, Margate
part of Refugee Week 2022. Supported by Counterpoints Arts and 101 Social
2020
Nothing Gentle Will Remain
online and print publication, curated by Lydia Antoniou, Caterina Guadagno, Nora Kovacs, Titus Nouwens and William Rees; in partnership with Open School East, Margate and MA Curating Contemporary Art Programme Graduate Projects 2020, Royal College of Art, London
Awards & Residencies
2023
Nottingham Contemporary Live Art Prize
artist development opportunity awarded by Nottingham Contemporary’s Live Programmes team for Let The Record Show II, a performance selected for NAE Open 2023, New Art Exchange
Writing Our Legacy ‘Shifting the Gaze’ Bursary
in partnership with South Downs National Park Authority
2019
Cement Fields artist in residence North Kent
research residency commissioned by Cement Fields
2018
LIMBO x Open School East Residency
text, installations and soundscapes
presented at LIMBO, Premier Express & JD Convenience Store, Margate
Publications & Texts
2023
Anti-National
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 12
Don’t Look Back
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 11
Tip
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 10
Ophelia’s Dream
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 07
6179 A.F. [BUCKY]
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 04
Aliya
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 03
2022
Respiration
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 09 Chapter 07
Dharti Khoon aur Paani
incantation by Swan Nemesis
part of ‘Demos Rising’
an anthology of art, poetry and short stories dedicated to the power of protest
published by Fly On The Wall Press
2020
Tr̶igg̶er Warning! Tr̶igg̶er Warning!
Nothing Gentle Will Remain — online and print publication, curated by Lydia Antoniou, Caterina Guadagno, Nora Kovacs, Titus Nouwens and William Rees; in partnership with Open School East, Margate and MA Curating Contemporary Art Programme Graduate Projects 2020, Royal College of Art, London
2017
Real stories with real people: the films of Sanjay Kak
interview and analysis
commissioned by Red Pepper magazine
2015
Censor Bored
self-adhesive sticker produced as an insert in Mumbai Art Map
with the kind support of Chatterjee & Lal Gallery.
Group Exhibitions
2023
NAE Open 2023
New Art Exchange, Nottingham
2020
Signs Of The Times
Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Cornwall
Share Your Quiet
contribution to a collective soundscape
lead by artist Pallavi Paul
from the series Surviving SQ (self-quarantine)
Sunaparanta Goa Center For The Arts, Goa, India
Turbine Bagh
contribution to a performative protest by artists in solidarity with the movement against the rise of fascism in India; initiated by artist Sofia Karim, originally scheduled to take place on 28 March 2020
Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London
2019
NAE Open 2019
New Art Exchange, Nottingham
Posters Unite!
poster, contribution as part of a series of protests against hate in India, an initiative of 2020 Group in solidarity with Artists Unite!
Mumbai, New Delhi, India
2018
Gut Feelings
experiential taxi ride and ‘drive by’ listening tour, mixtape, 2 x single channel silent videos, series of text posters, live performance of Outspoken Word + Subliminal Bass
Open School East, Margate
Art Licks Weekend
live performance in the form of a collaborative crit and feedback session
Turf Projects / Croydon Arts Store, London
Now and Then
audiovisual installation
101 Social Club, part of Margate Festival
Hush Hush, Conversations with Myself
live sound performance and DJ set
curated by Concrete Assembly
Guest Projects, London
“What you doing outside in the sun? You should be inside, you’ll turn dark like me…”
text, installations and soundscapes
LIMBO, Premier Express & JD Convenience Store, Margate
Crate Conversations: Pass It On
drawing, texts, soundscape, photograph, single channel video
Crate, Margate
Contemporary Exorcism
collaborative performance and audiovisual event
soundscape, 2 x single channel videos
commissioned for Whitstable Biennale 2018
Strong Currents
live performance made of sounds, objects and interventions along Botany Bay beach, England; project led by artist Marguerite Humeau
Open School East 2018 associate artists
2017
Incomers Tour
site specific sound installation
The Lido Complex, Cliftonville, Margate
soundscape, 2 x text posters
Open School East, Margate
Screenings & Talks
2024
Tiger Vision (2021)
HH Art Spaces, Goa, India
2023
The Poetry Showcase: South Asian Poets
Southbank Centre, London