Biju Ibrahim

• Featured works
• Biography

B. 1981, Malappuram, Kerala
Lives and Works in Kerala
Biju Ibrahim’s photographic practice involves eight years of rigorous practice in making images, having received no formal education and training in photography — with the weight of the labour, journeys across fractured landscapes, burnt down histories, Biju Ibrahim captures the essence of rustic geographies, the people who are now becoming archive of the earth, the mythic and mystery of spaces and places, broken vessels and torn fabric, alleys of now filled with the density of then or before. He is passionate about capturing the histories and existential praxis of the mystic cultures of Kondotty and Ponnani, the two coastal geographies of Malabar and their linkages with the faraway lands of Arab and the Greek region embedded in the mark of coevalness and multiplicities, of vanishing textures and grains of languages and history’s voice.

Having a deep interest in traveling across regions, is almost a nomadic figure, a metaphysical flâneur who is interested in passages of inner life and the world. Recognising photographic practices like these which borders on the everyday experiences of time and space laden with crusts of the past, evoking difference and multiplicity, against the homogenizing tendencies of nations, ideologies and markets, Biju Ibrahim was invited by URU art harbor, an institution which fosters research, training and support to artists, in August, 2017 as an artist in residency involving research and creating a photographic archive of the place — Mattancherry/Fort Kochi inhabited by numerous castes, families, religions, histories, exiles and expatriates with their scars, fragments of memories and traces which pushes the observer back into the mists of the time of Muziris. His photographic series of the people and spaces of Mattancherry/Fort Kochi, besieged by memories of the sea on the one side, and the brutality of the present on the other side is the cause of this exhibition Transcendence Kochi.

Biju Ibrahim’s photographic practice of capturing people, families and individuals held in their fabric of time, space, labour and retreat has also been recognized by the Biennale Foundation at Kochi. As a result of his labour, imagination and creative immersion in the field of photography, Biju Ibrahim is now involved in the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale as a leading campaign photographer of it’s my biennale series. Biju Ibrahim’s photographic oeuvre was one among twenty one artists’ work encompassing south Asian geographies selected for the Young Subcontinet Project, 2017 at the Serendipity Arts Festival curated by Riyas Komu. Islamic Cultural Centre with a belief in muticulturalism, harmony of religions and plurality strives for representing pluralism reflected in society, arts and culture and is very pleased to exhibit Biju Ibrahim’s selection of photographs at its gallery supported by URU art harbour.

• Serendipity Arts Festival, The Young Subcontinent Project: One among the 21 artists selected from across south Asia to retrieve its shared histories and pasts. As part of it, engaged in a project titled ‘Transcendence Kochi’ which is a visual anthropological documentation of 42 diverse communities living in the historic town of Mattancherry in Kochi, Kerala.
• Artist in Residence, Uru Art Harbour: Founded by Riyaz Komu and located in Kochi, ‘Uru’ is envisioned as a cultural and interactive hub for visual arts, literature, music and philosophy. As part of it, engaged in a project titled ‘Transcendence Kochi’ which is a visual anthropological documentation of 42 diverse communities living in the historic town of Mattancherry. An exhibition with selected photographs from the project is ongoing at Fort Kochi.
• Ekalokam Trust for Photography – Part of EtP PROJECT 365, a public photo-art project that collectively creates and preserves photographic visual of the fast vanishing landscape, divergent customs, pluralistic culture and diversified lifestyle of an ancient Tamil town of Thiruvannamalai. A one-year long project with participation of 30 photographers from across the country and abroad, the specialization was in temple architecture photography
• Architectural Projects – A regular photographer for Good Earth, D-Earth and B.S Architects, renowned architects in Kerala.
• Sufi Culture of Kondotty and Ponnani– An independent photography project that seeks to document the Sufi traditions of northern Kerala towns of Kondotty and Ponnani
• Monsoon Diary – A photo book that captured the beauty of Kerala backwaters during monsoon. Assisted renowned photographer Binu Bhaskar in the project.
• Thrikkana Madilakam Porulukam – Part of the video project supported by Kochi Biennale 2014 that dealt with Silappathikaram-an ancient Tamil epic.

View works

Artists