Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) is pleased to announce a presentation by Cape Town-based artist Liona R. Nyariri and Delhi-based artist Nidhi Khurana. The presentation will be an introduction to the artists' individual practices along with their evolving, collaborative work(s).

Liona and Nidhi will be speaking at length about their shared time at Braunschweig (BS) Projects Residency in Germany, having spent close to a year in the space, with collaborations across practice and research.

They will also be speaking about the first in a series of initiations and cross-pollinations - a book entitled ‘Allium Ursinum’, the title being a reference to the botanical name of wild garlic, that grows in shady, woodland areas in Europe.


About the Artists:

Liona R.Nyariri (b.1991) lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.

Nyariri's practice explores the ways in which pidgin languages are created with a specific focus on pidgins that came from formally colonized Southern African countries. A pidgin language happens when two or more languages meet/collide to create a third hybrid language. A pidgin can also happen when a dominant language is broken and taken apart to create a remixed version of the dominant language. Nyariri uses mythology and speculative fiction to explore this theme with a strong engagement with the written and oral traditions of Southern Africa. Nyariri’s work has been presented at Real Art Ways in New Haven, Zeitz MOCCA in Cape Town, Artist Alliance Inc in New York, AC Institute in New York, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York, Participant Inc Gallery in New York, Young Blood Gallery in Cape Town, AVA Gallery in Cape Town and others. Nyariri has completed a residency with Braunschweig Projects in Germany (2019), Artist Alliance in New York (2018) and was a fellow at the Whitney Museum’s ISP Program (Independent Study Program 2016-2017). Nyariri is the recipient of The Real Art Award (2018), the ABSA Art and Life Award (2013) as well as a top finalist for the Sasol New Signatures Award (2014).

Nyariri was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and received an MFA in Fine Art from Parsons The New School of Design and a BA in Fine Art from Michaelis School of Fine Art UCT.


Nidhi Khurana (b.1980) lives and works in New Delhi, India.

Nidhi is interested in exploring fields, forests, gardens, ecosystems, cities, kitchens, factories and workshops to discover ways in which matter can be created and destroyed. Maps and the idea of mapping has been central to her practise. It alludes to a physical fear of being lost but also points to a lost civilization or a civilization losing its way. Nidhi has recently completed an Artist residency program at the Hochschule fur Bidende Kunste Braunschweig, funded by the State of Lower Saxony (BS Projects Scholarship 2018-19) Germany. She was awarded the Mexican Government Scholarship for a residency in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2015-16. Nidhi has received a travel grant from the Indian Council of Cultural relations (ICCR) in 2013 and the Sher-Gill Sundaram Arts foundation grant in 2017. Nidhi has participated in The Why Not Place residency, New Delhi, the Disappearing Dialogues Residency in Maihar, the 1 Shanthi Road Studio Residency in Bangalore and the Piramal Art residency in Mumbai. She received the Bajaj Capital Art House Fellowship in 2011. In 2015, Nidhi developed a large scale map of Panipat in collaboration with the weavers of Raj Overseas, a carpet export factory in Panipat for an exhibition titled “Fibre Fables” at the Stainless Gallery, New Delhi. Her work has been exhibited at BS Projects exhibition in Germany, the India Art Fair, New Delhi, the Krishnakritii Festival, Hyderabad, the Religare Arts Initiative, New Delhi, the Piramal Museum of Art and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.

Nidhi was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh and received an M.A. in Arts and Aesthetics from the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She completed her Bachelors in Fine Arts from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, Gujarat in 2003.