Riyas Komu

Riyas Komu is an artist and curator who has exhibited his works worldwide, including at the Venice Biennale. His works – paintings, sculptures, videos, photographs and installations – dwell on a range of subjects that include war, migration, civilisational memories, displacement, violence, betrayal, history, peace, football and even touch upon the Indian Constitution. He is the ideator of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and co-founder of the Kochi Biennale Foundation. He co-curated the first edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2012 and subsequently made the biennale a multidisciplinary educational project as the Director of Programmes. He co-curated the first International Football Film Festival in India at the Goa International Film Festival and Trivandrum International Film Festival in 2012. Komu is the co-founder of URU Art Harbour, a cultural hub in Mattancherry, Kochi, which promotes artists from the region focused on local culture and maritime history. In 2022, he co-founded Aazhi Archives with a group of academics and scholars, which puts the spotlight on Knowledge, Art and People. 

Riyas Komu has held several solo exhibitions, including Holy Shiver at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2018); Oil’s Well, Let’s Play! at Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Milan (2010–2011); The Third Day at Lalit Kala Akademi, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi (2004); and an exhibition presented by Willem Baars Projects at Art Amsterdam (2007). Other solo shows include Faith Accompli (2005) and Out of Place. He has also participated in numerous group exhibitions such as Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor at Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai (2021); Outside/In: An Exhibition of Portraits at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2019); Critical Mass: Contemporary Art from India at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel (2012); To Let the World In: Narrative and Beyond in Contemporary Indian Art at Art Chennai (2012); the Jogja Biennale, Indonesia (2011); and exhibitions at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, China (2009), Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo (2009), and the Gwangju Emerging Asian Artists Exhibition, Korea (2010). His work has also featured in Art on the Beach, Made by Indians, St. Tropez (2006), the Harmony Shows (1999–2004), and The Guild Art Gallery Annual Shows (2001 & 2002), as well as in online exhibitions such as The Mumbai Monsoon (2022) and The Future is Not Fixed (2020). In 2019, Komu curated the Kondotty Sufi Festival. He is currently the Artistic Director of Ishara House, Kochi.