Rajkumar was born in 1971,
in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, India. Between 1992-1996 Rajkumar
learnt wood and stone carving under Raituram, a master craftsperson at
the Shilpi Gram in Kondagaon. He went on to assist him in the executions
of various commissioned works and participated in a number of training
programs and craft workshops and fairs sponsored by government
organizations like Lalit Kala Akademi and Handicrafts Board, India. It
is around this time he became the founding member of Dialogue
Interactive Artists Association (DIAA) in Kopaweda, where he
serves as the President currently. Some of his collaborative projects
are Chawal ki Kahani: A workshop with students from two high
schools in Kondagaon, Bastar –1997; Pilla Gudis is a project in
collaboration between artists and community members in Bastar since
2000; Nalpar is one public place since 2000. Besides this,
Rajkumar has organized art workshops for local school children at
Pilla Gudis at Kusma, Kopaweda and Shilpigram, Kondagaon. As part of
DIAA, Rajkumar has been organizing art workshops for neighbourhood
children at Pilla Gudi in and around Kopaweda with Rajkumar,
Gessuram, Navjot Altaf, and other local Adivasi artists. He participated
in a Seminar Samvad 3, Value [of] nature, organized by DIAA-
Dialogue Interactive Artists Association Kopaweda Kondagaon Bastar
(2015), and presented a paper Where do Adivasi Artists Stand in a
Seminar Samvad 2, What is Contemporary in Contemporary Art,
organized By DIAA- Dialogue Interactive Artists Association Kopaweda,
Kondagaon, Bastar (2011).
Rajkumar has widely
exhibited his artworks in India and abroad. His solo exhibitions include
an Exhibition of Sculptures and Acrylic on Paper, Sakshi Art
Gallery Mumbai (2007). His important group exhibitions include
Sculpsit: Between Thought and Action, at The Guild, Alibaug, (2019)
curated by Sasha Altaf and at Sunaparanta - Goa Centre for the Arts,
Goa, (2019) in collaboration with The Guild; Starting from the
Desert: Ecologies on the Edge. Curated by Marco Scotini, 2nd
Yinchuan Biennale, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Yinchuan, China
(2018); Not under Great Law, not under Sacred Law, The Guild
Alibaug (2016); Edge
of Desire: Recent Art in India, curated
by Chaitanya Sambrani (Perth, New York, Mexico City, Monterrey,
Berkeley, New Delhi, Mumbai 2004-07) and a seminar to coincide with Edge
of Desire: Recent Art in India exhibition
at National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi;
Modes of Parallel Practice: Ways of World Making,
Interactive project at Shilpi Gram with Navjot Altaf and
Bhanumati Padamsee, Kabiram and Gessuram at Sakshi Art Gallery Mumbai
and Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, as part of Asian Art Triennale,
Communication: Channels for Hope, Fukuoka, Japan, curated by Raiji
Kuroda (1997-1998).
Rajkumar lives in Kopaweda
and works at DIAA in Kopaweda, Kondagaon, Chhattisgarh.
|
|
|
|
|