The World That Belongs To Us brand design by Asad Ali Zulfiqar.
Contemporary Exhibitions

The World that Belongs to Us

Curated by Aziz Sohail with Head of Exhibitions, Deborah Robinson, this exhibition brings together a constellation of intergenerational artists from the South Asian diasporas of the UK, USA and Canada.

Sharing a common thread of combining autobiography and activism, and working across a wide range of media including painting, photography, film, animation, wall drawing and site-specific installation, these practices activate a wide range of conversations around community and belonging, friendship and intimacy, migrant and diasporic storytelling and queer world-making.

Chila Kumari Singh Burman, Chitra Ganesh, Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh, Roshini Kempadoo, Pamila Matharu, Hardeep Pandhal, Jagdeep Raina, Sa’dia Rehman, Salman Toor

The title of this exhibition was inspired by an anthology of poetry from South Asia, edited by Aditi Angiras and Akhil Katyal.

A dedicated microsite accompanies the exhibition with essays by Dr Alice Correia, Dr Alpesh K Patel and Aziz Sohail and documentation of the exhibition.

Please check our website for additional events throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Exhibition Microsite
Exhibition Guide

Exhibition preview

Thursday 23 November 2023, 6-8pm

Free, all welcome

How Do We Do?: Networks, Friendships, Histories, Futures

Saturday 25 November 2023, 10.30am-4.30pm

£8 / £6 concessions. Includes lunch and refreshments.

In parallel to The World that Belongs to Us, this symposium explores some of the key concerns within the exhibition. Themes include; entangled South Asian diaspora networks from the 1980s through today across the UK, USA and Canada; the importance of collaboration and friendship across time and space; interrogating histories and archives; and queer and feminist world-building.

Book here

The World that Belongs to Us is funded by Walsall Council and Arts Council England with additional support from Art Fund and the British Council’s International Collaboration Grants, which are designed to support UK and overseas organisations to collaborate on international projects. Sa’dia Rehman’s participation is supported by Greater Columbus Arts Council. Pamila Matharu’s participation is supported by Canada Council for the Arts. The New Art Gallery Walsall also gratefully acknowledges the support of Jhaveri Contemporary, Luhring Augustine, Hales Gallery and Cooper Cole.

Chitra Ganesh, How We Do at the End of the World, 2011, Print. Courtesy of the artist, Gallery Espace and Hales Gallery.
Jagdeep Raina, Desi Punjabi Songs for Lovers, 2015. Mixed media on paper. Courtesy of the artist and Cooper Cole, Toronto.
Sunil Gupta & Charan Singh, Eric, Venezuela, from the Arrivals series, 2022. Archival inkjet print. © Sunil Gupta. All rights reserved, DACS 2023.
Sunil Gupta, Family, from the Black Experience series, 1986/2021. Archival inkjet photographic print © Sunil Gupta. All rights reserved, DACS 2023.
Sa’dia Rehman, The Raft, 2022–23, Mixed media, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio. Courtesy the Artist.
Chila Kumari Singh Burman, Body Weapons ( This Is Not Me ), Mixed Media. © Chila Kumari Singh Burman. All rights reserved, DACS 2023.
Salman Toor Park Boys, 2020 Oil on panel 24 x 30 inches (61 x 76.2 cm) © Salman Toor; Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.
Pamila Matharu, INDEX (Some of all Parts), 2019-ongoing, mixed media, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist.
Photo: Emotive Eye.
Photo: Emotive Eye.
Photo: Emotive Eye.
Photo: Emotive Eye.