Taniya Sarkar_Profile

TANIYA SARKAR

VISUAL ARTIST

Member of Women Photograph, Anakeb
www.womenphotograph.com
www.anakebco.com

Born in 1992, based in Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. She has pursued her Bachelor’s  (2012)  and Master’s  (2015)  degrees  in  Journalism and Mass  Communication from  the University of Calcutta. She worked as a freelancer in the local news media during her university studies.  She was selected as a WaterAid India fellow in 2019. During her fellowship in 2020, she witnessed massive communal violence in Delhi, the capital of India.

Her works have been exhibited at Objectifs, Women in Film & Photography 2023, Germany as part of the exhibition ‘CLOSE CONTACT’ in 2021 -2022. She is a student grant recipient for The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund (2022), Nazar Foundation Artist Assist Fund in 2023, Inge Morath Award 2021 (Finalist) by Magnum Foundation, Generator Grant by Experimenter 2021, Social Documentary Grant of Murthy Nayak Foundation, and SACAC in 2021. International Center of Photography (ICP) New York, awarded her the most prestigious Mary Ellen Mark Memorial Scholarship to join the One-Year Certificate program in Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism program (2021-2022). She has been selected by World Press Photo to be a participant in the esteemed Joopswart Masterclass 2024. She has worked for Le Monde, Crafts Magazine U.K, European Union and UNESCO.

Her work focuses mainly on the post -partition socio-political reality of Bengal through the stories of women. In her projects, she analyses religion, religious conflict, and counter-religion to identify colonial narrative gaps.

Nothing Left to Call Home is her long-term project, unearths women’s narratives of West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh on the multi-faceted and complex communal events since India’s partition and independence in 1947. Her project When I Dive into the Realm of Your Endlessness explores grassroots perspectives, philosophy, contemplation, and artistic expressions of the Baul-Fakir women (a mystical folk tradition) who are largely sidelined and overlooked in the patriarchal environment of rural Bengal (India and Bangladesh).

Education:

  • International Center of Photography (2021 – 22)

  Awarded Mary Ellen Mark Scholarship by ICP to join the One-Year Certificate program in Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism.

  • Pathshala South Asian Media Institute (2018)

  Diploma in Professional Photography.

  • University of Calcutta (2009 – 2012)

  Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Mass Communication. 

  • University of Calcutta (2013 – 2015)

  Masters of Arts in Journalism & Mass Communication. 

Achievements:

  • Selected for 2024 Joopswart Masterclass, World Press Photo
  • Nazar Foundation Artist Assist Fund 2023, for the project WHEN I DIVE INTO THE REALM OF YOUR ENDLESSNESS
  • Honourable Mention for the Marilyn Stafford Foto Reportage Award 2023, for the project Nothing Left to Call Home.
  • Student grant recipient for The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund 2022, for the project Nothing Left to Call Home.
  • Space118 Artist Grant 2022, for the project Broken Hallelujah.
  • Finalist for Women Photograph & Leica Grant 2022, for the project Nothing Left to Call Home.
  • Finalist grant for the Inge Morath Award 2021, Magnum Foundation, for the project Nothing Left to Call Home.
  • Generator Grant, Experimenter, Kolkata 2021, for the project Nothing Left to Call Home.
  • Social Documentary Grant 2021 by SACAC & Murthy Nayak Foundation, for the project Nothing Left to Call Home.
  • Finalist with a ‘special jury citation’ in Women Photograph Grant 2021, for the project Nothing Left to Call Home.
  • Samyak Dristy and Photo South Asia Grant 2020.

Workshops:

  • IMAGE ASSEMBLY TOWARDS A PRACTICE OF PUBLISHING by Tanvi Mishra & Cecile Poimboeuf Koizumi 2024, funded by Photosouth Asia.
  • Attended Daniella Zalcman + Natalie Keyssar’s intensive editing workshop in 2023.
  • Attended Daniella Zalcman + Natalie Keyssar’s long-term project (virtual workshop) in 2021
  • Selected for the scholarship program of Screen Arts School, ‘IMAGE BASED STRATEGIES FOR SOCIAL CHANGE’ led by Fred Ritchin, mentoring by Debi Cornwall in 2021.
  • Selected for the scholarship program of VII Academy, “Photojournalism & Documentary Photography’: A 12 weeks seminar with Christopher Morris for South and South Asian participants, 2020.

Exhibitions & Publications:

  • Nothing Left to Call Home published in June issue, 2024, Caravan Magazine
  • Nothing Left to Call Home is part of Objectifs Women in Film & Photography 2023. The exhibition will be held from 21 September to 5 Nov 2023, in Singapore.
  • Broken Hallelujah has been exhibited in ICP 2022.
  • Nothing Left to Call Home was published in 2022 EDITED by ICP (Int’l Center of Photography) & OKS (Ostkreuzschule Art School).
  • Nothing Left to Call Home has been exhibited in Städtische Galerie Nordhorn, Germany as part of the exhibition ‘CLOSE CONTACT’ in 2021-2022.
  • Informal Working Class has been supported and exhibited at Indian Photo Festival in 2020.

Work Experience:

  • Worked for Le Monde for  2024 Indian Election.
  • Worked on an Exhibition for World Teachers Day- UNESCO, October 2023, Paris (Ongoing).
  • Worked for Crafts Magazine (UK) SPRING/SUMMER issue of 2023.
  • Worked for the European Union (EU) on three projects; EU India Photography project in Kolkata (West Bengal, Puddukotai (Tamilnadu), and Ranchi, Gumla, and Hazaribagh districts (Jharkhand).
  • WaterAid India’s Annual Fellowship 2019-2020.
  • Work as an independent research associate.
  • Member of AAMRA (An Assemblage of Movement Research and Appraisal), a study group on conflict and coexistence. I am part of their fact-finding committee and Bengal Peace Centre.

Professional Experiences:

  • Scott Thode Editorial Director at Visura.co, Independent Curator, Editor, Educator at ICP and The School of Visual Art, Board Member of The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund. Email Address- thode.scott@gmail.com , sthode@smithfund.org Phone Number- 917-319-5622
  • Vasant Nayak Co-founder of Photo South Asia, Murthy Nayak Foundation, Aperture Board, ICP Exhibition Committee. Email Address- vasant@icloud.com vasant@murthynayak.org Phone No- 443.854.5838
  • Prashant Panjiar Photographer, Curator, Co-founder, and Co-Creative Director of the Delhi Photo Festival and Co-founder and Managing Trustee of Nazar Foundation. Email Address-ppanjiar@gmail.com Phone No: +91-9811051887

Contact No: +919051418616 (India), +8801302458726 (Bangladesh)
Email: peu.tani1992@gmail.com