About the Exhibit:

When the Subaltern Speaks is an exhibition by Shwarga Bhattacharjee that centers the intersections between modern identity, postcolonial borders, transnationalism, racism, and the lived experience of migration and displacement via a series of abstract paintings, animated illustration, and sculpture.

The Partition of India in 1947, the British-led division of the subcontinent into two independent nation states: Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, has often been overlooked in examinations about modernity in world history. Bhattacharjee, who was born and raised in Bangladesh, presents a visual narrative that is rooted in his own transnational experiences, the intellectual history of postcolonial theory, and the concept of the subaltern or Other (Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak 1988). 

In its multimodalities and abstraction, Bhattacharjee’s When the Subaltern Speaks is an exhibition that confronts the lasting and deleterious effects of British post-imperialism, emigration, and emergent modern identities in South Asia from an autoethnographic perspective.

When the Subaltern Speaks will be on view in Gallery 1 at Da Vinci Art Alliance beginning August 24th, and will be available as a video walkthrough shortly after. Join us for the opening reception of the exhibit on August 25th, from 4-7pm.

About Artist:

Shwarga Bhattacharjee is an artist based in North Philadelphia, PA. He has shown his work in the United States and Bangladesh at several venues including Twelve Gates Arts, Vox Populi, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL), Temple Contemporary, and the Dhaka Art Summit. In 2012, he was selected as part of the Young Talent cohort at the Dhaka Art Summit, and in 2021, he was the recipient of Peter Benoliel Fellow at the Center For Emerging Visual Artists in Philadelphia. He has participated in residencies at Britto Student Residency, Jentel Artist Residency, NYAE Curatorial Residency, and Chautauqua Institution School of Art. In 2018, he curated an exhibition for the Little Berlin Gallery in Philadelphia as part of the Visiting Curator Program. In 2021, he participated in the Spring Curatorial Residency program at the New York Artists Equity Association in New York City. He also worked as a children’s book illustrator with Room to Read, a leading nonprofit organization focusing on the education of underprivileged children across Asia and Africa. Born in Dhaka, Shwarga Bhattacharjee moved to the United States in 2014. He received an MFA in drawing and painting from Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University, and a BFA in drawing and painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka.

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