Bio:
Pulak K. Sarkar (b. 1998, Rangpur, Bangladesh) is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher. He holds an MFA in Painting from Banaras Hindu University (2022–2024) and a BFA in Painting from Rabindra Bharati University (2017–2021), both supported by the ICCR Fellowship. He is now based in Dhaka.
Pulak’s notable exhibitions include When winds in Monsoon play, the White Peacock will sweep away, collaboration with Drient Zeneli Commissioned by Samdani Art Foundation and Museo Castromediano of Lecce, 2025 . Pro Helvatia, Artist in Residency, Switzerland, 2026, Fresh Produce 2.0 (Method Delhi X IAF YCP), 2025, Bhumu- Kriya, Hidden Artist Initiative, 2025. Real or Real: A Juxtaposition of Narratives, India Art Fair, 2024, Bare Liminal, Akar Prakar, 2024, Mute/Unmute, Method, Mumbai, 2024, Crack International Art Residency, Kushtia, 2024, Watching: An Atlas of Thinking Eyes, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Student’s Biennale, 2022–2023, Assembly of The Garden of Hum, MS University, Baroda, 2024, 27th Berzer Young Artist Exhibition, Zainul Gallery, Dhaka, 2023, Copyright of Covid Victims, India Art Fair, 2022, The International Behavioral Art Festival, 2022, Indo-Bangla International Art Camp, 2020, River Art Camp, Indian Museum, Kolkata 2019, West-Bengal Annual Exhibition, 2018.
His curatorial experience, Curation: Celebration in Color (Varanasi | Paris), 2023 and Dark Chamber: Some Reciprocal Dialogues in the Darkness, 2022. Unwind Mind 4.0 (2025-ongoing) and co-curating projects: Performance Art as a Method of Creating Contemporary Art, 2023, Freedom is Everywhere, 2022, Space/Body/Choice, 2022, and Being and Becoming, 2021. Performance Art Coordinator at Very Small Felling, Dhaka Art Summit, 2023 and Program Assistant on the Networking of the International Art Community Project, (South Korea X Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Philippines) 2024
Artist Statement:
My work investigates postnarrative, memory, space, and structure, exploring how urban histories and spatial practices materially and politically shape knowledge, identity, and cultural discourse. Situated at the intersection of form, meaning, and power, my work unfolds through painting, text, site-specific para-fictional installations, and site-activating actions that address the structures shaping perception, memory, and social order. My practice, rooted in research, investigates the underlying socio-cultural and political mechanisms through which normalization is subtly enacted, largely imperceptible, and largely taken for granted, particularly in urban contexts. I approach this inquiry through relational practices, semantic deconstruction, para-documenting, and media-agnostic methods.
I initially perceive these normalized structures through personal unease, by observing the systems around me, people’s behavior, social interactions, my own habitual patterns and urban typologies. Later, I bring these intuitions into conscious awareness, using logical and analytical methods to research and investigate the subject more systematically. so, my practice is analytical, critical theory and philosophical inquiry engaged, it remains simultaneously personal, emotional, and poetic. Thus I parallel my artistic praxis with artisanal craft quality and collaborative engagement, translating these ideas in tangible expression.
Currently I am working with the liminal qualities of space as a critical zone and examining how its built environment and material structures influence societal organization..