Awdhesh Tamrakar was born in 1989 in Shahgarh, Madhya Pradesh (a small town between Khajuraho and Sanchi). He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts at M.S. University Baroda in 2013 and 2015, respectively. His artworks addresses issues with movements, migrations, and the search for identity, belonging, and home. His surname, Tamrakar, translates to “craftsperson of copper,” which represents the identity of his family and community. The materials he employs in his practise serve more than just aesthetic or artistic goals; they also serve as markers of his ancestry. He employs a variety of techniques and materials common in the indigenous tradition of utensil making. Awdhesh’s engagement with diverse materials – pulp, paper, brass, copper, photographs, fiberglass- is deep, personal and vested. His works are testimonies that the histories of the craftsmen communities (such as the thateras’) are indeed embedded in time-honoured metal-working practices; that they are expressed, sometimes, in wistful, nostalgia-filled oral retellings of their family stories. Works like these–research oriented, archive intensive, practice-based- are crucial, urgent and indispensable interventions in the resistance to the erasure of the voices and lived experiences of marginalized communities, and traditions.
Tamrakar has been awarded a Gold Medal from the Department of Sculpture, Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda in 2015, Chinmoy Pramanik Memorial Award, Faculty of Fine Art, Baroda in 2015, and Emerging Master Award, Sarjan Art Gallery, Baroda in 2014.
His solo exhibitions include 'Dūr-darāz' at Shrine Empire, New Delhi in 2022, Muted Mathaar: Supported by The Raza Foundation on the occasion of 100 years of S H Raza, held at Triveni Art Gallery, New Delhi in 2021, and Unfastened Association, was supported by SCZCC, Nagpur, held at Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda in 2016. Some of his recent group shows and projects include Delhi Contemporary Art Week , 2023 & 2022, India Art Fair, 2023 and ART Mumbai 2023, Thinking Matters, curated by Mario Dsouza, Space Studio Baroda, 2020; Heads in the cloud, Five Million Incidents, conceived in collaboration with Raqs Media Collective and organized by Goethe Institut/ Max Mueller Bhawan New Delhi and Kolkata,2020; Art and Science Dialogue, Collaboration project with TIFR Hyderabad, 2018; Madhyama curated by Akhilesh, Raza Foundation, Delhi,2018; ID-ENTITY Curated by Zero Gravity Collective, New Delhi, 2018; Displaced Places, Utsha Foundation, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 2017.
Tamrakar has been teaching as a Guest Faculty in the Department of Fine Arts, S.N.School of Arts and Communication, Central University, Hyderabad since 2018.
Awdhesh lives and works between Hyderabad and Baroda.
