(Un)Layering the Future Past of South Asia: Young Artists’ Voices

The vibrant, hybrid and paradoxical region of South Asia, home to one-fourth of the world’s population, has birthed a new generation of artists. Sharing centuries of overlapping civilisations and an abundance of common cultural formations, they bring a fresh perspective to artmaking that defies national state boundaries. This is a selection of twelve artists’ voices from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

These artworks link to common concerns – ecological stress, depletion of indigenous resources and loss of habitat, forced migration, socio-economic issues, political imbalance, gender disparity and historical ties based on the relations of the Empire to its territories and the remnants of legacies of conflict and dominance. By inventing fresh ways of artistic expression and creative resistance, they make their voices heard in a world which continues to be invested in narratives of dominance.

This is a new iteration of the exhibition first hosted at SOAS Gallery, London from April to June 2025.

Curated by Salima Hashmi and Manmeet K. Walia.

Artists: Moonis Ahmad, Aisha Abid Hussain, Maheen Kazim, Kubra Khademi, Ghulam Mohammad, Hadi Rahnward, Purvai Rai, Ashfi ka Rehman, Varunika Saraf, Hema Shironi, Rinoshan Susiman, T. Vinojya.