About

K.R. SUNIL

He is a visual artist based in Kodungallur, Kerala. He studied sculpture from the Government College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, but turned to photography that later shaped Sunil’s world of art. His works revolve mainly around the stories of people in motion, their travel and transformation, and their aspiration and despairs. The critically acclaimed series ‘Manchukkar| The Seafarers of Malabar’ featured – for the first time-the stories of the long-forgotten seafarers of the Malabar region, while ‘Vanishing Life-Worlds’ explored the endangered life-worlds in the historic port town of Ponnani. Similarly, ‘Chavittu Nadakam: Storytellers of the Seashore’ narrated about a community in encroachment-prone coastal region of Kochi, who uphold a dying art form that is rooted to the Portuguese reign in India. Sunil focusses mostly on sea and port towns, their past that continuously shapes their present, and also on issues of environmental concern.

Selected Exhibitions:
2024 ‘Art of India Redux’ Assemblage, Nebraska (with focus on Chavittu Nadakam – The Storytellers of Seashore)
2023 ‘Chavittu Nadakam – The Storytellers of Seashore’ Contextual Cosmologies, Thiruvananthapuram, curated by Bose Krishnamachari
2022 ‘Chavittu Nadakam – The Storytellers of Seashore’ Sea A Boiling Vessel Exhibition, Kochi, curated by Riyas Komu
2021 ‘Manchukkar | The Seafarers of Malabar’ Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum, USA
2021 ‘Home’ Lokame Tharavadu, Alappuzha, curated by Bose Krishnamachari
2018 ‘Manchukkar | The Seafarers of Malabar’ URU Art Harbour, Kochi, curated by
Riyas Komu
2017 ‘Chronicle of a Disappearance’ RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, curated by Suzanne Davies & Helen Rayment
2017 ‘Mattancherry’ URU Art Harbour, Kochi, curated by Riyas Komu
2016 ‘Vanishing Life-Worlds’ Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi, curated by Sudarshan Shetty
2016 ‘Chronicle of a Disappearance’ India Habitat Center, New Delhi, curated by Alka Pande
Selected Awards, Grants & Residencies:
2024 Kunstdepot Göschenen, Switzerland
2018 URU Art Harbour, Kochi, Travel & Research Grant
2016 India Habitat Center, New Delhi, Photosphere Award & Grant
Publication:
Manchukkar | The Seafarers of Malabar by Kunstdepot Göschenen, Switzerland

Collections:
Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum, Clarinda, USA
Kunstdepot Göschenen, Switzerland