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Shazeb Shaikh
Creative communication, communities and culture
Arts & Culture | Selected Projects
Lifelong Learning
Lifelong Learning
The Story of Light | Goa | 2015
India's first arts-science festival and India's official contribution to the International Year of Light celebrations promoted by the UN
The Story of Space | Goa | 2017
Exploring space through the lens of arts, science, culture & philosophy with an international live and informal learning festival in Panjim, Goa
The Mind of Nature | Online | 2020
A virtual human library featuring 20 Indo-Swiss ecology experts discussing as many diverse eco-topics in live round-table chats with the general public
The Story of Mind | Goa | 2019
Curtain raiser featuring panels with local practitioners, and a screening program, to open up conversations around the festival's themes
Lifelong Learning Model | 2019
Developing an all-encompassing strategy & platform for promoting personalised lifelong learning journeys to meet the needs of the 21st Century
The Story of Space - Catalog | 2019
Co-producing a book that compiled documentation of our large international team, 100+ projects & live events, and what the general public learned with us
Eco
Ecology
Grass Museum | Tenna (CH) | 2022
Co-curating and co-producing a landmark installation for Art Safiental - a land and environmental art biennale hosted in the Swiss alps
Stories of Grass | Tenna (CH) | 2023
Co-curating & co-producing a bilateral multimedia exhibition that brings together Indo-Swiss observations, interpretations and manifestations of grass
Learning from the Earth | 2019
Supporting the creation of the book that features essays, quotes, and artworks in the land and environmental art context
Learning from the Earth - India Tour | 2023
Planning and producing Johannes M. Hedinger's research and networking trip to India including organising a series of talks in Mumbai, Goa and Kochi
The Mind of Nature | Online | 2020
A virtual human library featuring 20 Indo-Swiss ecology experts discussing as many diverse eco-topics in live round-table chats with the general public
Cultural Exchange
Cultural Exchange
The Blackout Festival | Mumbai | 2012
Launching India's first apartment festival to celebrate the end of the Mayan calendar on 21-12-2012 and beginning of an urban subculture experiment
You are not invited! | Mumbai | 2013
72-hours non-stop festival secretly hosted on a rooftop in Bombay with 3 principles: No themes. No permissions. No exchange of money.
The Blackout Ultimatum | 2014
Exploring the crunch of time & space in a metropolis like Bombay with a 3-day residency on a rooftop inviting 10 artists to produce 5 'artworks in a tent'
BlackoutBasel | Basel | 2015
Producing an international cultural event bringing together 65 artists in presence from all 6 continents to the mecca of arts - Basel, Switzerland
Saucy | Basel | 2015
Challenging cafes, restaurants & diners all over the city of Basel to send me a secret sauce - the contributions resulted in an edible exhibition
Science in / of / as Art | Basel | 2015
Inviting 4 artists who worked across a broad range of scientific subjects to talk about their work and to discuss their practice with each other
The Propitiator | Basel | 2015
Curating the project in which the artist played the title and invited hopes and prayers from locals and the internet to create a shrine of their cyanotypes
Smashed with Smash | Basel | 2015
A talk show featuring the artists, team & visitors of #BlackoutBasel to discuss various topics while getting smashed over various drinks
Don't React | Mumbai | 2016
Curating and producing an exhibition of statements pasted in large-format with caution tape covering 2km+ of Bombay's public spaces without permissions
The BACKOUT festival | Nowhere | 2017-18
Inviting people all over the world to back out from their New Year plans at the last minute and embrace our festival to enjoy self-preservation and coincidence
VivaVaddo | Goa | 2023
Connecting the new, old and native residents of a cluster of villages in North Goa to meet over common interests, subjects and topics
The Show Must Go On | Goa | 2021
Hosting and showcasing 'artworks in a suitcase' by two South Korean artists as part of a global travelling exhibition during the pandemic
Roadshow | South Korea | 2013
Invited as one of 5 international curators to travel with a large group of South Korean artists to artistically explore a militarised island opposite North Korea
Roadshow | North-east India | 2014
Hosting 16 South Korean artists and curators on a journey over 2 weeks across Assam and Meghalaya to explore and respond to the local cultural scene
South Korea meets North-east India | 2013
Hosting a South Korean delegation to meet with local cultural practitioners, organisations and government bodies in the north-eastern region
Sea Art Festival | Busan | 2023
Participating in a group discussion with over 50 international cultural practitioners hosted by the chief curator to create a manifesto for the festival
Carnival of e-Creativity | Sattal | 2014
Co-curating 4 editions of the annual gathering of experimental creative practitioners at the Sattal Estate, and the North-eastern Hill University (NEHU)
Lairen Mathek | Manipur | 2017
Initiating and promoting an Indo-Swiss dance exchange between Atelier Mondial (Basel, Switzerland) and Nachom Arts Foundation (Manipur, India)
Pixels from the Past | 2022-
Planning and managing the project to produce Daguerrotypes in India after a gap of 130+ years with the original mercury method
AIR-L | Goa | 2021-23
Coaching resident artists at the Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts and guiding the newly launched Artist in Residency - Laboratory (AIR-L)
Pro Helvetia Studio Residencies | IN | 2021-
Planning, managing and producing Swiss artist residencies and their public programs in India supported by Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council
KYTA | Indian Himalayas | 2014-
Curating and collaborating with 75+ multidisciplinary resident artists hailing from different parts of India and all six continents
KYTA | Indian Himalayas | 2017
Hosting 4 Swiss artists supported by Pro Helvetia at KYTA 2017 in Kalga (Himachal Pradesh) as part of the '70 years of Indo-Swiss Friendship' celebrations
Longplayer | London | 2021-
Strategising the relationship between upcoming generations & a unique artwork that will play for 1000 years ever since it began at the onset of the 21st Century
iArts
Interdisciplinary Art
Satellite Sonata | Goa | 2017
Curating and producing a performance featuring the world's only musical instrument made out of a meteorite, and a score inspired by the shining of the stars
Acoustic Dip in Goan Heritage | Goa | 2017
Curating and co-producing a collection of spatial audio data recorded from places of heritage value as a process to conserve their unique acoustic experiences
12 Hours of Sound | 2017
Creating a seamless event with multiple experiments in sound-shaping-space such as a collaboration between 'Meteorite, Mosquito & Matthias'
Anti-Causal / Pro-Coincidence | Goa | 2017
Producing a series of interactions (talk, workshop & performance) with Hojun Song - the first person to launch a personal satellite in space
aLpha | Kalga, Himachal Pradesh | 2014
10 artists from as many disciplines come together over a month-long residency in the Himalayas to produce a short film as a unified artistic result
Inedie | Kalga, Himachal Pradesh | 2015
11 artists representing India and France are challenged to produce a feature-length film within a 6-week residency and zero budget
Projection Bombs | Bombay | 2013
Taking over the urban landscape across Bombay city with guerrilla projection bombing delivering a message from the festival - "You are not Invited!"
The Pvt. Blackout Collection | Basel | 2015
A 2-week exhibition with a 72-hour festival within it to process and transform various artworks through public engagement culminating in a closing auction
Contact Imprint Dinner | Basel | 2015
Presenting a ritualistic live performance in which the artists invite members of the audience to capture the memory of the evening directly on to the dining table
Don't Compress Me | Basel | 2015
A contest to produce uniquely random movements with just your head to beat the compression algorithm and achieve the largest file size from your attempt
Open Fit | Basel | 2015
An open experience to produce the best-fitting trousers for festival guests using a custom and real-time Kinect-enabled shape and size modulator
Post-pasteurian Brunch | Basel | 2015
A live food and drinks tasting event at the popular Warteck rooftop in which the artist produces several experiments and 'dishes' with bacteria
Fracas | Basel | 2015
An exchange between The Blackout Festival and Klappfon, a local alternative music promoter to open a new live performance space in the city of Basel
Genre Gutter | Basel | 2015
A live performance series night with a wide range of experimental audio-visual acts from all over Switzerland, Europe, India and the world
Instramental | Basel | 2015
A live concert series featuring some of the finest experimental acoustic acts from Europe including a collaboration with an Indian dance artist
Uranium Necklace | Basel | 2015
Responding to the spate of suicides in South Korea, the artist produced the artwork and exhibited it in a massive but secret attic hidden away in the venue
Ghost Travellers | Mumbai | 2023
Producing a series of performances featuring pigeons flying with flutes and a brass band sitting on rooftops in Dharavi for the Mumbai Urban Art Festival 2023
Dispersed Diaries | India | 2009
Producing a coffee-table book with multiple visual and music artists on the internet responding to words by a young poet based in Bombay
Om Mani Padme Hum | 2019
Curating and producing the anamorphic sculpture by popular French artist, Matthieu Robert-Ortis, as a gift for the land and people of Ladakh
The Last Brahmin | 2020
Anonymously curating and producing Shailesh BR's acclaimed first international solo exhibition at the prestigious Villa Arson in Nice
CP
Creative Placemaking
KYTA | Himachal Pradesh | 2014-18
Pinning the village of Kalga on the global arts map over 5 years of annual group residencies, modest facilities, and a whole lot of media attention
Open Village Showcase | Kalga | 2016-18
Initiating a concluding event at the end of our group residencies - a multimedia showcase of artworks & live experiences spread across the tiny hamlet
Ladakh Arts Platform | Leh | 2018
Establishing the first new cultural event hosted in the city centre of Leh during the period of abrogation, bringing together several local artists and artisans
The Wall Project | Bombay | 2009-
Creating an exchange between residents of the erstwhile fishing village of Chapel Road and local artists to make the area a global hub for street and public art
The Mumbai Landmark Project | 2015-
Public-Private Partnership Proposal to produce 12 modern day monuments for Bombay that transform into new globally recognisable symbols of the city
ASCTP | Bombay | 2014-16
Reimagining Mumbai's largest public sports complex into a hotspot for sports, entertainment, and arts & culture - as part of The Mumbai Landmark Project
Films
Films
Kshay | India | 2011
Led Conjure Arts & Media, our films studio to produce and successfully release Kshay, an award-winning acclaimed film by Karan Gour
Stealing Suburbia | USA | 2013
A short film created by the final year students of TISCH NYU based on the 'barefoot bandit' of America - the film was screened at Cannes 2013
Inedie | Kalga, Himachal Pradesh | 2016
Produced during a residency in which 11 Indo-French artists were challenged to produce a feature-length film within 6 weeks without any prior ideas
Carnival of eCreativity | India | 2014
Gathering footage from multiple visitors and participants over multiple editions to edit a documentary about India's most intriguing creative 'incident'.
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