2 – 7 APRIL 2019

As Artist in Residence at The Lock-Up, Dr. Rakini Devi will engage directly with The Lock-Up spaces for the video installation Urban Kali produced in collaboration with Karl Ford which features in the group exhibition KNOWN | UNKNOWN. As part of the opening event, the artist will also present a live durational performance which was also developed while in residence.

Kolkata,
Indian born and Sydney based multidisciplinary performance artist, Dr. Rakini
Devi explores cultural identity as an artist originating from the East and located
in the West. Trained in two forms of Indian classical dance, Bharatanatyam and
Odissi, Dr. Devi’s Kalika Dance Company 1991-1998 integrated classical Indian
dance forms into a contemporary context. Her practice-led research integrates
both Indian and western performance techniques, creating her own idiosyncratic
performance language and aesthetic.

Dr.
Devi’s work centres on female religious iconography as protest against global
misogynist atrocities including female infanticide, dowry deaths and femicide.
Her current repertoire includes The Female Pope (Sydney, New York, Sweden), The
Widow, Kali Madonna, The Black Madonna and her doctoral presentation Urban Kali
(2017).

IMAGE: Dr. Rakini Devi Urban Kali photograph by Karl Ford, 2017.