Revisiting Studies into Darkness: A conversation with Amar Kanwar

Amar Kanwar was born in 1964 in New Delhi, India, where he currently lives and works. Kanwar’s work traces the legacy of globalization and decolonization, land use and border rights, environmental concerns, human rights and free expression, and sexual violence. Interwoven throughout these inquiries are disparate narrative structures which ground his philosophical investigations. Through hybrid installations which incorporate images, literature, poetry and music, Kanwar creates meditative works that do not aim to represent trauma, but to find ways through them. Kanwar’s work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions internationally, and he has been the recipient of several awards including an Honorable Mention at the Sharjah Biennial 2023, the IHME Helsinki Commission (2022), and others.

Rattanamol Singh Johal is Assistant Director of the International Program at MoMA, where he works on the global research initiative, C-MAP, and the Primary Documents publication series. He also co-chairs the Museum’s Contemporary Working Group, members of which organize displays of collection works from the 1980s to the present. He earned a Ph.D. in Art History from Columbia University and has held fellowships at the Whitney Independent Study Program and Tate Research Centre: Asia. Previously, he worked as a curator, archivist, and publications editor at Khoj International Artists’ Association in New Delhi.

The Vera List Center for Art and Politics is an artist-focused research center and public forum for art, culture, and politics. It was established at The New School in 1992—a time of rousing debates about freedom of speech, identity politics, and society’s investment in the arts. A leader in the field, the center is a nonprofit that catalyzes and supports politically engaged art, public scholarship, and research throughout the world. It fosters vibrant and diverse communities of artists, scholars, and policymakers who take creative, intellectual, and political risks to bring about positive change.