Simpson extends the materiality of her miniature painting practice by working on corrugated iron, a material widely used for shelter by indentured labourers.
Sancintya Mohini Simpson is a descendent of indentured labourers sent from India to work on colonial sugar plantations in South Africa. Her work navigates the complexities of migration, memory and trauma—addressing gaps and silences within the colonial archive. Simpson’s work moves between painting, video, poetry, and performance to develop narratives and construct rituals that reflect on her matrilineal lineage.
Recent solo exhibitions include Recent solo exhibitions include Artist’s Rooms: Sancintya Mohini Simpson, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai (2024); par-parā / phus-phusā, Tales of Land and Sea, Bundanon Art Museum, Shoalhaven (2024); ām / ammā / mā maram, The Condensery | Somerset Regional Art Gallery, Toogoolawah (2024) and Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (2023)Sugar, Milani Gallery, Brisbane (2022); New Old Archives, Milani Gallery, Brisbane (2020); Kūlī nām dharāyā/ they’ve given you the name ‘coolie’, Institute of Modern Art Belltower, Brisbane (2020); Echoes Over Oceans, Firstdraft, Sydney (2020); Remnants of my ancestors, Hobiennale, Hobart (2019); and And words are whispered, 1ShanthiRoad Studio Gallery, Bangalore (2019).
Simpson’s selected recent group exhibitions include Artes Mundi 11, National Museum Cardiff, Cardiff, United Kingdom (2025); Sharjah Biennial 16, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2025); The Plantation Plot, ILHAM, Kuala Lumpur (2025); The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art, Meanjin/Brisbane (2024); TarraWarra Biennial 2023: ua usiusi faʻavaʻasavili, Healsville (2023); Busan Biennale 2022: We, on the Rising Wave, Museum of Contemporary Art Busan, Busan (2022); Indigo Waves and Other Stories: Re-Navigating the Afrasian Sea and Notions of Diaspora, Zietz MOCAA, Cape Town (2022); Blue Assembly: Oceanic Thinking, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane (2022); This language that is every stone, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (2022); Staple: What’s on your plate?, Hayy Jameel, Jeddah (2021); and The National 2021: New Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2021).
Simpson’s poetry has been published in Artist Profile, Correspondence (The Physics Room), Cordite Poetry Review, and Peril magazine. Her work is held in the collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Art Jameel, Dubai; KADIST, Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney; UQ Art Museum, Brisbane; and Museum of Brisbane.
