Germany
Dusseldorf
2018
54
English
English, German
In a nutshell
Why should you watch this?
The Raqs Media Collective’s exploration of time as a force shaping human experience offers a profound critique of how society functions under capitalism. Their works challenge traditional notions of time, revealing its role in regulating life and framing historical narratives. By dismantling these fixed interpretations, they invite audiences to rethink the ways time is measured, experienced, and manipulated. In doing so, their practice merges art, history, and philosophy, making their work a compelling reflection on the rhythms that shape our individual and collective existence.
Contributors
Beatrice Hilker
Bio
Beatrice Hilker is a German curator and art historian. She was a co-curator of the exhibition Raqs Media Collective: Everything Else is Ordinary, which was showcased at the K21 Museum in Düsseldorf. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with Susanne Gaensheimer, focused on the collective’s exploration of themes such as time, space, and history. The K21 exhibition was the first major solo presentation of Raqs Media Collective in Germany, offering deep insights into their multifaceted works and practice.
Jeebesh Bagchi (Raqs Media Collective)
Bio
Jeebesh Bagchi is a co-founder of Raqs Media Collective, along with Monica Narula and Shuddhabrata Sengupta. Founded in 1992, Raqs engages in multifaceted creative roles as artists, curators, and cultural provocateurs. They co-founded the Sarai Initiative in 2000 at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi, which focuses on media and urbanism. The collective’s work spans installations, video, and photography, addressing themes of time, history, and urban spaces. Their works have been widely exhibited, including at Documenta, the Venice and São Paulo Biennales, and solo shows in major global museums.
Monica Narula (Raqs Media Collective)
Bio
Monica Narula is an artist and co-founder of Raqs Media Collective, established in 1992 alongside Jeebesh Bagchi and Shuddhabrata Sengupta. With a background in English Literature and filmmaking, Narula has contributed to Raqs’ expansive, interdisciplinary practice that spans installation, film, sculpture, and curatorial projects. Raqs Media Collective is known for its “kinetic contemplation,” engaging with themes of time, history, and urbanism. Their work has been featured internationally, including at Documenta and the Venice Biennale. They also co-founded Sarai at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, shaping contemporary Indian culture.
Shuddhabrata Sengupta (Raqs Media Collective)
Bio
Shuddhabrata Sengupta is an artist, writer, and curator, co-founding the Raqs Media Collective in New Delhi with Monica Narula and Jeebesh Bagchi in 1992. Raqs engages in diverse creative practices, including installations, video, photography, and curating, with works exhibited internationally at Documenta, Venice, Istanbul, and São Paulo Biennales, and in museums across New York, Brussels, and Shanghai. They co-founded the Sarai Initiative at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in 2000, fostering research on media and urbanism. Sengupta has been a Keith Haring Fellow at Bard College, and Raqs won the Multitude Art Prize in 2013.
Susanne Gaensheimer
Bio
Susanne Gaensheimer, born 1967 in Munich, is a prominent German art historian and curator. She studied art history in Munich and Hamburg and completed the Independent Study Programme at the Whitney Museum in New York. Gaensheimer earned her PhD in 1997 with a dissertation on Bruce Nauman. She served as director of the Westfälischer Kunstverein and later curated the International Contemporary Art collection at Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus. In 2009, she became director of the Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK) in Frankfurt, where she oversaw the establishment of MMK 2. Since September 2017, she has directed the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf.