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Holi Hai! – International Artist Residency
In early 2023, Artcore hosted the Holi Hai! International Residency, fostering creative collaboration between UK and Indian artists. UK artists Nikki Culley, Huw Davies, and Phil Basi, along with Indian artist Masood Sarwer, embarked on a two-week residency in Vadodara, India. They immersed themselves in the vibrant Holi celebrations of the Rathwa tribal community in Chhota Udepur, Gujarat—a region where Holi is celebrated extensively through village fairs filled with music, dance, and cultural festivities. The artists then returned to Derby to present their works in an exhibition titled “Holi Hai!” at Artcore Gallery, coinciding with the gallery’s reopening after refurbishment. This residency exemplified Artcore’s commitment to international artistic exchange and cultural dialogue.
Participating Artists:
Masood Sarwer
Masood is an Indian-born visual artist and documentary photographer. He focuses on the ecological, social, and contemporary issues of the Murshidabad district region where he grew up, highlighting the tensions surrounding identity, gender, human rights, and climate emergency. Sarwer has won several prestigious awards, including the Global Prize “Photography 4 Humanity” in 2022 and a scholarship from VII Academy. His work has been exhibited at the United Nations General Assembly gallery in New York and the “Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit” at the University of Colorado Boulder. Sarwer has been published in outlets such as The Hindu, National Geographic Traveller Magazine India, and Creative Image Magazine. As a faculty member of the Grayscale – Academy of Photography and Creative Vision, he has established himself as a significant voice in the world of documentary photography and visual art.
Huw Davies
Huw is a filmmaker, photographer and curator based in Derby, UK. His work has included commissions for many national and international agencies and broadcasters and shown at festivals in competition in over 30 countries. He co-founded the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (BFMAF) and was its inaugural Artistic Director from 2004 – 2009. Over three decades, he has held teaching, research and senior leadership positions at several universities in the UK, USA and China and is currently Professor of Lens Media at the University of Derby.
Philip Ranjit Basi
Philip Ranjit Basi is a multi-award winning Series Producer/Director with thirty plus years of professional works centred around music, arts, documentary, factual, and entertainment production. Having worked for both ITV & the BBC, he has been responsible for thousands of hours of published TV from across the world. He is currently Programme Leader in Media Production at the University of Derby.
Nikki Culley
Manchester-based artist Nikki Culley is a film photographer and black & white darkroom printer. Her main interest in photography is creative storytelling and the chemical methods and physicality of making photographs. Culley enjoys black and white darkroom printing where she is able to experiment with the manual process of developing each photography outcome.
Culley is a former financial and business journalist who gave up a career in the media to study a Masters degree in Art History and become an artist and photographer. Most of her work holds themes of love, loss and discovery, with a focus on telling stories through photographs and learning about other people, groups and cultures that are different to her own.
Holi Hai! Exhibition
The exhibition “Holi Hai” presented a rich collection of lens-based works by four artists: Masood Sarwer, Nikki Culley, Huw Davies, and Phil Basi. Drawing inspiration from their experiences in the tribal district of Chhota Udepur, India, the artists created thought-provoking works that explored themes of cultural identity, modernity, traditions, and the preservation of cultural heritage.
Through photography, film, and mixed media art, the exhibition showcased the artists’ diverse perspectives on the festival of Holi, the value of archives and legacy, the struggles faced by indigenous communities in India, and their deep relationship with the land. “Holi Hai” ran from 16 May to 3 June 2023 at Artcore Gallery, coinciding with the gallery’s reopening after refurbishment. The exhibition provided visitors with a unique insight into the intersection of tradition and contemporary artistic expression, fostering cross-cultural dialogue and reflection.
