Born in Tanzania, Dipesh Pandya started his [im]migrant journey at the age of three, taking him to England, France, America and India. Sound, music and experimental writing techniques are integral to his artistic practice, drawing from research and reflection on ethnopoetics, sonics, cultural memory, sensory and auto-ethnography, ritual, incantation and linguistics.

Pandya makes work using performance, spoken word, immersive multi-sensory installation, sound, text based video and clothing. Through a range of alter egos he explores disembodied chronologies, cosmologies and ghosts found in the oral and sonic histories of Global South and diasporic identities. Thinking through the politics of the street by using conversation and sound in public space as generative sites for research, performativity and dissemination through acts of dissent, protest and refusal; celebrating living archives and exploring alternative methods for archival practice.

Of East African South Asian heritage, his mother tongue is Gujarati; other tongues are Hindi, French and English. He currently lives and works in Cliftonville, Margate, on the south-east coast of England.

Commissions

2024

[mobil]isation
performative lecture and live participatory performance
part of Feedback Loop, a series of events relating to themes in REꓘONSILIATION,
an exhibition by Julian Abraham 'Togar'
commissioned by Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham

Let The Record Show III
live performances and installation staged from a car, transforming it into a sonic sculpture activated through spoken word,
commissioned by Alserkal Avenue for Quoz Arts Fest 2024, Dubai

2023

I.A.M. THESE PEOPLE
sonic takeover, a twelve hour collaborative playlist, part of Refugee Week 2023
the cafe at Turner Contemporary, Margate

2022

Black Case Volume III after Joseph Jarman
immersive, multi-sensory audiovisual installation
video: Tiger Vision (2021)
incantation: Tr̶igg̶er Warning! Tr̶igg̶er Warning! (2020) by Swan Nemesis
soundscape by Nina Radio Tapes + Ice Cream Mafia
commissioned by Cement Fields for Whitstable Biennale 2022 

Sâdhanâ
series of live performances by Swan Nemesis
commissioned by Cement Fields for Whitstable Biennale 2022

Muhâjir
site specific installation
incantation: Vilayat (2021) by Swan Nemesis 
commissioned by Cement Fields for Whitstable Biennale 2022 

for Lawrence
site specific installation
commissioned by Cement Fields for Whitstable Biennale 2022

I.A.M. THESE PEOPLE
participatory nomadic street cafe in Cliftonville, Margate
part of Refugee Week 2022. Supported by Counterpoints Arts and 101 Social

2020

Nothing Gentle Will Remain
online and print publication, curated by Lydia Antoniou, Caterina Guadagno, Nora Kovacs, Titus Nouwens and William Rees; in partnership with Open School East, Margate and MA Curating Contemporary Art Programme Graduate Projects 2020, Royal College of Art, London

Awards & Residencies

2023

Nottingham Contemporary Live Art Prize
artist development opportunity awarded by Nottingham Contemporary’s Live Programmes team for Let The Record Show II, a performance selected for NAE Open 2023, New Art Exchange

Writing Our Legacy ‘Shifting the Gaze’ Bursary
in partnership with South Downs National Park Authority

2019

Cement Fields artist in residence North Kent
research residency commissioned by Cement Fields

2018

LIMBO x Open School East Residency
text, installations and soundscapes
presented at LIMBO, Premier Express & JD Convenience Store, Margate

Publications & Texts

2023

Anti-National
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 12

Don’t Look Back
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 11

Tip
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 10

Ophelia’s Dream
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 07

6179 A.F. [BUCKY]
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 04

Aliya
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 10 Chapter 03

2022

Respiration
incantation by Swan Nemesis
published by Visual Verse: Vol. 09 Chapter 07

Dharti Khoon aur Paani
incantation by Swan Nemesis
part of ‘Demos Rising’
an anthology of art, poetry and short stories dedicated to the power of protest 
published by Fly On The Wall Press

2020

Tr̶igg̶er Warning! Tr̶igg̶er Warning!
Nothing Gentle Will Remain — online and print publication, curated by Lydia Antoniou, Caterina Guadagno, Nora Kovacs, Titus Nouwens and William Rees; in partnership with Open School East, Margate and MA Curating Contemporary Art Programme Graduate Projects 2020, Royal College of Art, London

2017

Real stories with real people: the films of Sanjay Kak
interview and analysis
commissioned by Red Pepper magazine

2015

Censor Bored
self-adhesive sticker produced as an insert in Mumbai Art Map
with the kind support of Chatterjee & Lal Gallery.

Group Exhibitions

2023

NAE Open 2023
New Art Exchange, Nottingham

2020

Signs Of The Times
Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Cornwall 

Share Your Quiet
contribution to a collective soundscape
led by artist Pallavi Paul
from the series Surviving SQ (self-quarantine)
Sunaparanta Goa Center For The Arts, Goa, India 

Turbine Bagh
contribution to a performative protest by artists in solidarity with the movement against the rise of fascism in India; initiated by artist Sofia Karim, originally scheduled to take place on 28 March 2020
Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London

2019

NAE Open 2019
New Art Exchange, Nottingham

Posters Unite!
poster, contribution as part of a series of protests against hate in India, an initiative of 2020 Group in solidarity with Artists Unite!
Mumbai, New Delhi, India

2018

Gut Feelings
experiential taxi ride and ‘drive by’ listening tour, mixtape, 2 x single channel silent videos, series of text posters, live performance of Outspoken Word + Subliminal Bass
Open School East, Margate

Art Licks Weekend
live performance in the form of a collaborative crit and feedback session
Turf Projects / Croydon Arts Store, London

Now and Then
audiovisual installation
101 Social Club, part of Margate Festival

Hush Hush, Conversations with Myself
live sound performance and DJ set
curated by Concrete Assembly 
Guest Projects, London

“What you doing outside in the sun? You should be inside, you’ll turn dark like me…”
text, installations and soundscapes
LIMBO, Premier Express & JD Convenience Store, Margate

Crate Conversations: Pass It On
drawing, texts, soundscape, photograph, single channel video
Crate, Margate

Contemporary Exorcism
collaborative performance and audiovisual event
soundscape, 2 x single channel videos
commissioned for Whitstable Biennale 2018 

Strong Currents
live performance made of sounds, objects and interventions along Botany Bay beach, England; project led by artist Marguerite Humeau
Open School East 2018 associate artists

2017

Incomers Tour
site specific sound installation
The Lido Complex, Cliftonville, Margate
soundscape, 2 x text posters
Open School East, Margate

Screenings & Talks

2024

Tiger Vision (2021)
HH Art Spaces, Goa, India

2023

The Poetry Showcase: South Asian Poets
Southbank Centre, London