Sajan Mani

Sajan Mani is an interdisciplinary artist and curator hailing from a family of rubber tappers in a remote village in the northern part of Keralam. His work voices the issues of marginalized and oppressed peoples of India, via the “Black Dalit body” of the artist. Mani’s performance practice insists upon embodied presence, confronting pain, shame, fear, and power. His personal tryst with his body as a meeting point of history and present opens onto “body” as socio-political metaphor. Sajan Mani’s artistic practice explores ecological concerns, migration, human-animal relationships, indigenous cosmologies, and colonial histories through performance and material research. His work examines the backwaters of Kerala, spatial politics, botany, and personal biography. He has received prestigious honours, including the Villa Romana Prize (2025), Berlin Art Prize (2021), and Prince Claus Mentorship Award (2022). His international exhibitions, residencies, grants, and fellowships reflect his significant contributions to contemporary art and performance.