Jagrut Raval is a visual artist, an immersive storyteller and a researcher born in Ahmedabad, India, based in Hamburg, Germany. His work explores the concept of time by reimagining mythological narratives within a global post-colonial context. Using diverse media—installation, photography, film, and more—Raval's art focuses on visual-spatial storytelling to reinterpret historical narratives.

Influenced by magical realism, he treats History as fluid, allowing him to challenge conventional boundaries and Western-Eurocentric perspectives. By blending real social, political, and cultural histories with fiction, Raval creates hybrid narratives that blur the line between reality and imagination. His work provokes thought, inspires dialogue, and invites audiences to rethink their perceptions of time, history, and reality, ultimately aiming to reinterpret and reimagine historical narratives.

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Jagrut Raval ist ein visueller Künstler, ein immersiver Erzähler und ein Forscher, geboren in Ahmedabad, Indien, und lebt in Hamburg, Deutschland. Meine Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem Konzept der Zeit, indem ich mythologische Erzählungen in einem globalen, postkolonialen Kontext neu imaginiere. Durch verschiedene Medien – Installation, Fotografie, Film und mehr – konzentriere ich mich auf visuell-räumliches Erzählen, um historische Narrative neu zu interpretieren.

Beeinflusst vom magischen Realismus betrachte ich Geschichte als etwas Flüssiges. Das erlaubt mir, konventionelle Grenzen und westlich-eurozentrische Perspektiven herauszufordern. Indem ich reale soziale, politische und kulturelle Geschichten mit Fiktion vermische, entstehen hybride Narrative, die die Grenze zwischen Wirklichkeit und Vorstellung verwischen. Meine Arbeiten regen zum Nachdenken an, eröffnen Dialoge und laden das Publikum ein, ihre Wahrnehmung von Zeit, Geschichte und Realität zu überdenken – mit dem Ziel, historische Narrative neu zu deuten und neu zu erfinden.

Selected Exhibitions

  • 2025: Tausend Töpfe - was Essen uns angeht (Group) - Museum of Ethnology, MARKK, Hamburg, Germany
  • 2022: In the Fullness of Time (Solo) - SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, USA
  • 2022: Free Association (Group) - Gutstein Gallery, Savannah, USA
  • 2021-2022: Songs and Other Words (Group) - Made In Balmoral Showroom, Bad Ems, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
  • 2020: The Plinth (Group) - Abhivyakti City Arts Project, Ahmedabad, India
  • 2019: Forgotten Immortals of India (Group) - Goethe Institute, New Delhi & Kolkata, India
  • 2018: Notes From Emptiness (Group) - Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa, India
  • 2018: Perspecta 18 (Group) - Galerie 88, Kolkata, India
  • 2015: Where Should the Birds Fly After the Last Sky? (Solo) - ATMA House, Ahmedabad, India
  • 2015: The Cloak (Group) - Disconnect Festival, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India
  • 2015: Halfaman (Group) - Aotu Studio, Beijing, China
  • 2014: In Between You and Me (Group) - Meridian E6, Beijing, China
  • 2014: Melting Time (Group) - Cairo Video Festival, Medrar Contemporary Art, Cairo, Egypt
  • 2014: Swarming Time (Group) - Art in Odd Places(AiOP), Indianapolis, USA
  • 2014: No One Ever Steps In the Same River Twice (MFA Thesis Exhibition) (Solo) - Southern Pine Company, Savannah, USA

Selected Lecture Performances & Artist Talks

  • 2025: Decolonial Kitchen - Narad & The Myth of Somafruit, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, ZiF, Bielefeld, Germany (March 28)
  • 2025: Myth and Reality - Museum of Ethnology, MARKK, Hamburg, Germany (March 13)
  • 2024: Decolonial Kitchen - The Story of Soma Fruit - Museum of Ethnology, MARKK, Hamburg, Germany (July 11)
  • 2024: Decolonial Kitchen - The Story of Soma Fruit - Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS), Hamburg, Germany (July 5)
  • 2023: Remembering Narad - Online-Art and Charlie, Mumbai, India (March 16)
  • 2022: Reconsidering Relics - SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, USA (April 25)
  • 2019: Forgotten Immortals of India - Goethe Institute, Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi & Kolkata, India (Nov 18)
  • 2019: Image as Inquiry - Photography Design, National Institute of Design (NID), India (March 2)
  • 2015: Artist Talk - Savannah College of Art and Design, Hong Kong Campus, Hong Kong (Feb 7)

Grants and Scholarships

  • 2021-2022: Internationale Stipendien für Bildende Kunst - Kunsthochschule Mainz & Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems, Germany (9-month Residency and exhibition development)
  • 2019: Project Grant (Five Million Incidents Curated by Raqs Media Collective) - Goethe Institute, New Delhi, India (Research and Development of the project “Forgotten Immortals of India”)
  • 2017: Shergill Sundaram Grant - 1 Shanthi Road, Bangalore, India (Developed project “Monuments to Oblivious Things”)
  • 2015: Crystal Ruth Bell Award - Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China (Inaugural Recipient with funded residency in Beijing for 3 months)
  • 2013: SCAD Graduate Fellowship (M.F.A.) - Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, USA (Full fee waiver)

Artist Residencies

  • 2022: Field Projects Gallery - New York City, USA (2022)
  • 2021-2022: Artist Residency Schloss Balmoral (Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral) - Bad Ems, Germany (2021 - 2022)
  • 2018: Serendipity Arts Foundation - New Delhi, India (2018)
  • 2017: 1 Shanthi Road Residency - Bangalore, India (2017)
  • 2017: TIFA Working Studios - Pune, India (2017)
  • 2015: Red Gate Residency - Beijing, China (2014 -2015)

Education

Master of Arts (M.A.), Expanded Media (Focus: Story-worlds)

Hochschule Darmstadt, Germany | 2024

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.), Photography

Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, USA | 2014

Bachelor of Design (B. Des), Interior Architecture

CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India | 2011


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