Renowned for the evocative arrangements of black and white images that push the boundaries of photographic practice, artist Dayanita Singh is one of the most recognized contemporary artists in the world today. In these two videos, recorded on separate occasions, Dayanita discusses her personal journey as an artist, as well as shares insights into her body of work.

This conversation is between Dr. Deepali Dewan, ROM’s Dan Mishra Curator of South Asian Art & Culture, internationally-acclaimed artist Dayanita Singh, and Dr. Kajri Jain, Professor of Indian Visual Culture and Contemporary Art, University of Toronto. They discuss the ways in which Singh’s work draws on her extensive photographic archive to create new ways of editing, sequencing and displaying that rethink the photographic image and the social relations it comes out of and in turn produces.

Recorded on May 6, 2021.

This conversation is between Dr. Deepali Dewan, ROM’s Dan Mishra Curator of South Asian Art & Culture and internationally-acclaimed artist Dayanita Singh. They discuss the evolution of Singh’s work from iconic photographic images that led her to “edit with emotion” to the creative ways of sequencing and displaying her work that she developed into self-contained museums that could be changed in the gallery space. Her published endeavours and portable museums manifest a new ecology of circulation where anyone can become director, curator, and registrar in their own homes.

Opening video excerpt from “Artist Talk: One Work with Dayanita Singh” by MoMA LIVE. Video at 5:40 from “Dayanita Singh: I Use Photography to Transform Space” by TateShots.

Recorded on February 3, 2021.