Overview
Beirut-born, Mumbai-bred, Vikram Divecha is an artist based in Dubai. He holds an MFA in Visual Art from Columbia University and was a participant of the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study program. Divecha’s practice shifts between public art, site-specific interventions, installation, film, painting, drawing, photography and text.
His practice raises questions about time, value and authorship by engaging people across urban and social spheres, and working with available material and space. Divecha terms this approach as ‘found processes’, which often sees him intervene within public and social systems. From wholesale exporters to municipal gardeners, architectural consultants to railway traffic managers, Divecha’s participants inform and shape his projects in various ways, at times for sustained durations.
His practice raises questions about time, value and authorship by engaging people across urban and social spheres, and working with available material and space. Divecha terms this approach as ‘found processes’, which often sees him intervene within public and social systems. From wholesale exporters to municipal gardeners, architectural consultants to railway traffic managers, Divecha’s participants inform and shape his projects in various ways, at times for sustained durations.
His new 34:00 mins film Dohrana (2021) commissioned by Warehouse 421 continues his collaboration with Sharjah Municipality gardeners, displacing the romance of Urdu poetry, choreographic postures, movements and music with the ever-green aesthetics of public roundabouts and traffic islands.
Works
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Untitled Scene (Aimless Calligraphy, August 3), 2022
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Resting Bodies (Island No.3), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.1), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.2), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.4), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.5), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.6), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.7), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.8), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.9), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.10), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.11), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.12), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.13), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.14), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.15), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.16), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.17), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.18), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.19), 2024
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Resting Bodies (Island No.20), 2024
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Kitchen wall, 4th floor, Apt No.16, Khalifa building (Habib Bank building), Hisn Avenue (Bank Street), Al Shuwaiheen, Sharjah, 2021
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Corridor archway, 4th floor, Apt No.16, Khalifa building (Habib Bank building), Hisn Avenue (Bank Street), Al Shuwaiheen, Sharjah, 2021
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The relationship between wood and sunlight, 2018
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Gallery 354, 2019
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Improvisations (2.B.287), 2021
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Google Images search entry: Withdrawn; Device: iPhone SE (A1723); Display aspect ratio 16:9, 2019
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Google Images search entry: Displaces; Device: iPhone SE (A1723); Display aspect ratio 16:9, 2019
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Southwest window facade (Cropped view), Gallery 354, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018
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Southwest window facade (Cropped view), Gallery 354, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018
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Bathing Boulders, 2017
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Photostaging Boulder Plot (2014), 2017
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Boulder Plot, 2014
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Beej, 2017
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Train to Rouen, 2017
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Warehouse Project, 2016
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Shaping Resistance, 2015
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Fee Transfer, 2017
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Portrait Sessions, 2016
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Negative heaps (of designated waste), 2015
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Miziara Architects, 2014
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Facade No.2, 2014
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Facade No.3, 2014
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Surface No. 5, 2012
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Reclaimed Void, 2013
Exhibitions
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Rest
MOHAMMED KAZEM AND VIKRAM DIVECHA 27 February - 15 April 2024Rest delves into the intricate relationship between labour, rest, and the ever-evolving urban landscape of the UAE. Considering the dynamics of human existence, alternating between cycles of depletion and restoration,...Read more -
El Dorado
Vikram Divecha 8 March - 1 May 2022In December 2017, Divecha chanced upon a projectionist’s block calendar diary among the refuse of the recently decommissioned El Dorado Cinema in Abu Dhabi. First opened in the 1990s on...Read more -
OUT OF PLACE
VIKRAM DIVECHA, MOHAMMED KAZEM, :mentalKLINIK, HALEH REDJAIAN, Hassan Sharif and Raed Yassin 22 March - 24 July 2021A group show featuring works by Vikram Divecha , Mohammed Kazem , :mentalKLINIK , Haleh Redjaian , Hassan Sharif , and Raed Yassin , Out of Place examines our place...Read more -
Towards Opacity
Vikram Divecha 14 January - 14 March 2020It takes approximately ten minutes for the photoreceptive cone cells in the eye to adapt to the dark. This is roughly the running time of the looping audio narration in...Read more -
(UN)CONSCIOUS : A SERIES OF SMALL SERENDIPITIES
GROUP SHOW 20 January 2018 - 3 March 2019Abdelkader Benchamma Vikram Divecha Mohammed Kazem Ahmad Amin Nazar Hassan Sharif Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde is pleased to present (Un)conscious: A series of small serendipities, a group exhibition in...Read more -
MINOR WORK
Vikram Divecha 9 March - 11 May 2017Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde is pleased to present Vikram Divecha's works in a solo exhibition Minor Work, curated by Murtaza Vali. Over the last few years, Vikram Divecha has...Read more
External
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So Different, So Appealing
Warehouse 421, Abu Dhabi 16 October 2021 - 16 January 2022So Different, So Appealing examines the aesthetics, rhetorics, and rituals of the real estate industry, unpacking the strategies through which it conjures up its many...Read more -
How to Maneuver: Shape-shifting texts and other publishing tactics
Warehouse 421, Abu Dhabi 10 December 2019 - 16 February 2020Publishing is the act of making public. It is not restricted to specific producers, languages of production, sanctified routes of distribution, and privileged readers. This...Read more -
CO-LAB: CONTEMPORARY ART AND SAVOIR-FAIRE
LOUVRE ABU DHABI 21 December 2017 - 25 March 2018As part of the French-Emirati Cultural Programme, in collaboration with the Louvre Abu Dhabi, this exhibition is based on the collaboration between four artists living...Read more -
Rock, Paper, Scissors: Positions in Play: UAE Pavilion
57th Venice Biennale 13 May - 26 November 2017‘Rock, Paper, Scissors: Positions in Play’ explored a strand of artistic practice in the UAE through the analogy of play. Featuring existing works, re-fabrication of...Read more -
Beej | Sharjah Biennial 13
Intervention at roundabout, Al Naba’ah, Sharjah 10 March - 22 October 2017Beej [Seed (in Urdu)] (2017) activates a potential for farming in the municipal workforce, largely from Pakistan, who tend to Sharjah’s landscaping. Two gardeners travelled...Read more -
Warehouse project
Alserkal Avenue, Dubai 14 March - 11 June 2016For Warehouse project, Vikram Divecha has, as part and for the duration of his concept, bartered possession of real estate at Alserkal Avenue with a...Read more
News
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Diriyah Biennale - "After Rain"
Features works by Hassan Sharif and a lecture-performance by Vikram Divecha 20 February 2024Hassan Sharif will be featured at the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale “After Rain” in Riyadh. “After Rain” opens up a moment of revitalization and renewal,...Read more -
Short Circuits
Vikram Divecha 13 February 2024The Jameel Arts Center presents 'Short Circuits', Vikram Divecha’s first survey exhibition, retracing the Dubai-based artist’s practice since 2013. This exhibition will run from February...Read more -
Art Abu Dhabi
Hassan Sharif, Hoda Tawakol, Mohammed Kazem, Lubna Chowdhary, Nargess Hashemi, & Vikram Divecha 22 November 202322 - 26 November, 2023 Gallery Isabelle is delighted to return to Art Abu Dhabi with works by Hassan Sharif, Hoda Tawakol, Lubna Chowdhary, Vikram...Read more -
Artist Vikram Divecha is on a mission to create a museum of 100 walls
27 May 2023Unlike a photograph that records just a fraction of a second, a wall is akin to a photographic plate, produced through this long exposure over...Read more -
421, Abu Dhabi
And The Mirrors Are Many 19 January 2023Vikram Divecha's 'Shadow over granite floor, Ancestor Figure (1979.206.1561), Gallery 354, Metropolitan Museum of Art' (2018) will be on view as part of 'And The...Read more -
"ICON. ICONIC." at Louvre Abu Dhabi
Vikram Divecha's 'Wall House' in "ICON. ICONIC." 29 November 2022Vikram Divecha's Wall House (2022) in 'ICON. ICONIC.' as part of 'Art Here' at Louvre Abu Dhabi for the Richard Mille Art Prize , curated...Read more -
Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
On Foraging: Food Knowledge and Environmental Imaginaries in the UAE's Landscape 9 October 2022Divecha's film 'Dohrana' (2021) explores longing, migration, hunger and farmers’ rights through Urdu poetry. Filmed at landscaping sites in the UAE, 'Dohrana' emerged from the...Read more -
ADMAF, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi
Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives 7 February 2022Organised by Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation Curated by Maya El Khalil Until 16 April 2022 Late artist Hassan Sharif, Mohammed Kazem, Manal AlDowayan...Read more -
NeMe Arts Centre, Cyprus
THROUGH THE MESH: MEDIA, BORDERS, AND FIREWALLS 19 December 2021Curated by Patrick Lichty Until 14 January 2022 Vikram Divecha's intervention Sweeping (2016) is part of the group exhibition Through the Mesh: Media, Borders, and...Read more -
New York University, New York
SHARBAKA: ENTANGLEMENT/ATTUNEMENT 19 December 2021Curated by May Al-Dabbagh Until 4 January 2022 Organised by Haraka: Experimental Lab for Arab Art and Social Thought, on themes of gender, globalisation, capitalism,...Read more -
Goethe-Institut Gulf
LOVE, LABOUR, LEISURE 19 December 2021Warehouse 51, Alserkal Avenue 13 - 15 December 2021 Vikram Divecha is part of Love Labour Leisure, an interdisciplinary project that delves into the ethos...Read more -
ABU DHABI ART
HASSAN SHARIF, MOHAMMED KAZEM AND VIKRAM DIVECHA 1 November 2021Manarat Al Saadiyat Preview: 16 November | 17 - 21 November, 2021 For Abu Dhabi Art, we present works by Hassan Sharif, Mohammed Kazem and...Read more -
Online viewing room | Antenna Space
SPRING TIME, PALM TREES 28 April 2021Organized by Claire Shiying Li 20 April - 30 May 2021 Palm Trees can be seen in gated communities worldwide, where developers conveniently transplant the...Read more -
ART DUBAI
LATIF AL ANI, ABDELKADER BENCHAMMA, VIKRAM DIVECHA, MOHAMMED KAZEM, HASSAN SHARIF, HODA TAWAKOL, and by the collective RAMIN HAERIZADEH, ROKNI HAERIZADEH and HESAM RAHMANIAN 1 March 2021Booth: B8 Gate Avenue, DIFC, Dubai 29 March - 3 April 2021 Preview: 19 November 2019 We are pleased to participate in this year’s edition...Read more -
The Corner, Whitman-Walker, Washington D.C
WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED… 25 January 202025 January - 29 March 2020 This exhibition is a call to action with over 100 unique works of art by over 100 leading visual...Read more -
Warehouse 421, Abu Dhabi
HOW TO MANEUVER: SHAPE-SHIFTING TEXTS AND OTHER PUBLISHING TACTICS 27 December 201910 December 2019 - 16 February 2020 Publishing is the act of making public. It is not restricted to specific producers, languages of production, sanctified...Read more -
Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai
SECOND HAND 9 July 20193 July - 23 November 2019 Second Hand brings together works from the Art Jameel Collection that explore materiality in contemporary art practice. Focusing on...Read more -
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM (ISP) OF THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART 9 July 2019We a proud to share that Vikram Divecha has been accepted into the highly prestigious Independent Study Program (ISP) under the auspices of the Whitney...Read more -
The Jewish Museum, New York
IN RESPONSE: LEONARD COHEN 5 May 2019Sunday, 5 May from 6.30pm to 9pm We are pleased to share that Vikram Divecha will participate in a performance programme hosted at The Jewish...Read more -
Wallach Art Gallery, Lenfest Center for the Arts, Columbia University, New York
VISUAL ARTS MFA THESIS EXHIBITION 2019 5 May 2019Curated by Regine Basha 28 April - 26 May 2019 MFA degree candidates in the Columbia University School of the Arts Visual Arts program present...Read more -
Intervention at roundabout, Al Naba’ah, Sharjah
BEEJ 7 April 2019Originally conceived and commissioned on occasion of Sharjah Biennial 2017, Vikram Divecha’s long-term project Beej, the Urdu word for seed, activates the potential for agricultural...Read more -
International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York
LIVING ROOM: UIT (USE IT TOGETHER) 12 February 2019Curated by Amanda Abi Khalil 12 February - 10 May 2019 We are pleased to share that Vikram Divecha will take part in a group...Read more -
GSAPP Incubator at NEW INC, 231 Bowery, New York
AESTHETICS OF EXTRACTION 7 February 2019Thursday, 7 February 2019 We’re thrilled to bring to your attention that Vikram Divecha will participate in the next edition of Columbia University's Works in...Read more -
New York
ASIA CONTEMPORARY ART WEEK (ACAW) 9 September 2018Various locations 5 September - 2 November 2018 Vikram Divecha’s engagements with institutions, urban processes and commercial operations leave behind a repository of material at...Read more -
UNCOMMON DUBAI +
VIKRAM DIVECHA AND MOHAMMED KAZEM 20 June 2018Edited by Sharmeen Inayat Published in April 2018 Vikram Divecha and Mohammed Kazem contribute to Uncommon Dubai +, a publication that offers a sliver of...Read more -
Land Art Mongolia 360°, Khentii Province
WHO ARE WE NOW? 10 June 2018Curated by Lewis Biggs 30 July - 8 August 2018 Vikram Divecha collaborates with a local coal supplier as part of his residency to create...Read more -
Wallach Art Gallery, New York
FIRST YEAR MFA EXHIBITION 3 April 2018Curated by Natalie Bell 24 March - 8 April 2018 As part of his first-year exhibition at Columbia University, Vikram Divecha presents a single partition...Read more -
Al Naba'ah, Sharjah
BEEJ, 2017 4 March 2018With support from Shurooq and Sharjah Art Foundation, an underground water tank and pump were recently installed in a roundabout in Al Naba'ah residential area...Read more -
Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
UNTOLD STORIES RETOLD 4 March 20187 March - 24 June 2018 Warehouse421 restages UAE's participation at two recent national exhibitions from the Venice Biennale's International Art Exhibition (2017) and International...Read more -
Kochi-Muziris Biennale
BINARY STATES, INDIA - UAE 1 January 2017Until 29 March As part of Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the satellite exhibition Binary States, India - UAE explores the bilateral relations between India and UAE across...Read more -
Sharjah Art Foundation
SWEEPING 1 January 2017March Project 2016 19 November 2016—19 January 2017 Vikram Divecha participates in the third edition of March Project 2016 exhibition, which features site-specific works developed...Read more -
VIKRAM DIVECHA
26 September 2016We are very pleased to announce that Vikram Divecha has joined the gallery's roster of artists. Vikram Divecha (born 1977, Beirut) is a Mumbai-raised artist...Read more -
Tashkeel, Dubai
PORTRAIT SESSIONS 7 September 20167 September - 13 October 2016 During the year-long Critical Practice Programme 2015-16 at Tashkeel, Vikram Divecha closely collaborated with Debra Levine to present a...Read more
Press
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How municipal workers are 'stakeholders' in Vikram Divecha's first survey exhibition
Razmig Bedirian, The National, 9 March 2024 -
"Rest" 27 Feb 2024 - 15 Apr 2024
Gallery Isabelle | 27 Feb 2024 - 15 Apr 2024Canvas Magazine Online -
Artist Vikram Divecha is on a mission to create a museum of 100 walls
Melissa Gronlund, The National, 27 May 2023 -
Vikram Divecha on his ambitious proposal—a museum of walls: We meet the artist nominated for the Richard Mille Art Prize
Lee Cheshire, The Art Newspaper, 16 March 2023 -
Dubai and Sharjah: four shows to see now
Rahel Aima, Art Basel, 14 March 2022 -
Beirut-born Artist Vikram Divecha’s Current Solo Exhibition Explores Loss And Darkness
AYESHA SOHAIL SHEHMIR SHAIKH, Harpers Bazaar Arabia, 9 March 2020 -
Review
Rahel Aima, Artforum International, 5 March 2020 -
Vikram Divecha draws similarities between museums and smartphones in new exhibit
Alexandra Chaves, The National, 17 January 2020 -
EMIRATES MALL CORNICHE
SHARMEEN INAYAT, UNCOMMON DUBAI +, 1 May 2018 -
Feathers on the Water
Patrick Martin Lichty, Harpers Bazaar Arabia, 1 May 2017 -
Artist Vikram Divecha turns the daily toil of UAE labourers into works of art
Anna Seaman, The National , 10 April 2017 -
Sharjah Biennial 13: how the seeds of a project took root among Sharjah’s city gardeners
Anna Seaman, The National , 19 March 2017 -
A Bigger Stage
Kevin Jones, The Art Newspaper, 17 March 2017 -
Portrait Sessions Vikram Divecha at Tashkeel
Murtaza Vali, Ibraaz, 31 October 2016 -
Artist Vikram Divecha puts new spin on phrase ‘time is money’
Anna Seaman, The National, 2 October 2016
Publications