Sancintya Mohini Simpson is an artist and researcher based in Brisbane, Australia. She is a descendent of indentured labourers sent to work, from India to South Africa, on colonial sugar plantations.
Her work navigates the complexities of migration, memory and trauma through addressing gaps and silences within the colonial archive. Simpson’s work moves between painting, video, poetry and performance to develop narratives and rituals. Her practice is grounded in collaboration and community engagement, connecting wider narratives surrounding descendants of indenture and their diaspora communities.
Simpson’s recent solo exhibitions include New Old Archives, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Kūlī nām dharāyā/ they’ve given you the name ‘coolie’, Institute of Modern Art Belltower, Brisbane, and Echoes Over Oceans (with Shivanjani Lal), Firstdraft, Sydney, 2020; Remnants of my ancestors, Boxcopy (Hobiennale), Hobart, and Natal’s Coolie Women, CARPARK, Milani Gallery, Brisbane, 2019; and Bloodlines at Metro Arts, Brisbane and Blak Dot Gallery (Next Wave Festival), Melbourne, 2018. Her work has been exhibited and performed at a number of institutions, most recently at the Museum of Brisbane, 2020; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2019; and QUT Art Museum, Brisbane, 2018. In 2019 she undertook a residency at 1Shanthiroad in Bangalore, India, awarded through Asialink Arts Creative Exchange. Simpson is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane, Australia.
Image: Natal 4 2018, Watercolour and gouache on handmade wasli paper, 63 x 88 cm, Collection of Museum of Brisbane
