Amar Kanwar and Sherna Dastur in conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist
Artist and filmmaker Amar Kanwar joins designer and filmmaker Sherna Dastur and Serpentine Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist for a conversation celebrating his exhibition at Serpentine North and its accompanying catalogue.
Amar Kanwar (b. 1964, New Delhi, India) is one of the leading artists working with moving image today. Over the past two decades, he has developed a conceptually rich body of lyrical films and multi-video installations exploring the specific conditions of the Indian subcontinent. Connecting personal experience to broader sociopolitical structures, his contemplative and metaphorical works move between documentary, travelogue and visual essay.
To accompany Kanwar’s exhibition at Serpentine North (23 September 2026 – 31 January 2027), Serpentine and Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Köln, have published a catalogue. Conceived by Kanwar as a storybook for adults and designed by Sherna Dastur, it reimagines the stories from the artist’s moving image works Such a Morning (2017), The Peacock’s Graveyard (2023) and The Charcoal Man (2026) in print. It also includes an extensive interview between Kanwar and Serpentine Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist, that brings together conversations from 2008 to the present.
Join us for an in conversation between artist and filmmaker Amar Kanwar, designer and filmmaker Sherna Dastur and Serpentine Artistic Director Hans Ulrich Obrist to celebrate the opening of Amar Kanwar’s exhibition at Serpentine North and the release of the accompanying catalogue. The conversation will be followed by a book signing with the artist.
Biographies
Amar Kanwar (b. 1964, New Delhi, India) is an artist and filmmaker. Selected solo exhibitions of his work have been at Palazzo Grassi–Pinault Collection, Venice, Italy (2026); Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, USA (2024); photo.circle, Kathmandu, Nepal (2023); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA (2022); Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (2019); Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India (2019); Tate Modern, London, UK (2018); Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota, USA (2018); Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden (2017); Le Frac des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France (2016); Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai, India (2016); NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore (2016); Assam State Museum in collaboration with Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi and North East Network, India (2015); The Art Institute of Chicago, USA (2014); Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK (2013); Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21), Vienna, Austria (2013); Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (2012); Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2008); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and ’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands (2008).
Selected group exhibitions and biennales have been at Pola Museum of Art, Hakone, Japan (2026); Shanghai Biennale, China (2026); Rhizoma, International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Kasterlee, Belgium (2025); M+, Hong Kong (2024); The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA (2023); Sharjah Biennale, UAE (2023, 2013, 2011); Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kerala, India (2022, 2013); Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy (2022); PhotoKTM, Kathmandu, Nepal (2018); Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India (2018); Lahore Biennale, Pakistan (2018); Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh (2016); Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, USA (2014); Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2014); The Menil Collection, Houston, USA (2014); The 56th Carnegie International, USA (2013); National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea (2013); Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA (2013, 2012); Istanbul Biennial, Türkiye (2013); and Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Russia (2013).
Kanwar has also participated in documenta 11, 12, 13 and 14 in Kassel, Germany (2002, 2007, 2012, 2017). Kanwar was the co-curator of the 17th Istanbul Biennial, Türkiye (2022). He has been the recipient of several awards including an Honourable Mention at the Sharjah Biennial (2023); IHME Helsinki Commission (2022); Prince Claus Award (2017); Creative Time’s Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change (2014); an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts, Maine College of Art, USA (2006); Edvard Munch Award for Contemporary Art, Norway (2005); MacArthur Fellowship, India (2000); Golden Gate Award, San Francisco International Film Festival, USA (1999); as well as the Golden Conch, Mumbai International Film Festival, India (1998).
Sherna Dastur (b. 1971, New Delhi, India) is a graphic designer and filmmaker. Her film Manjuben Truck Driver (2002) has been screened at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA, and the International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, among other festivals. Her recent design work includes Amar Kanwar (2026); Project Cinema City (2013); Trace Retrace: Paintings, Nilima Sheikh (2013); The Khoj Book, 1997–2007: Contemporary Art Practice in India (2010); and Amar Kanwar: The Torn First Pages (2008) among others. She has also worked on a range of interventions for social campaigns and films addressing issues of fundamentalism and women’s rights.
