September 2024
Baptist Coelho is a visual artist from India who articulates unspoken stories and conjures meaning from the psychological and physical disruptions caused by war and conflict.
After fighting for the British army in the First World War, approximately 1.000 soldiers from the Indian Army were captured and taken to the prisoner-of-war camps in Zossen (“Weinberglager”) and Wünsdorf (“Halbmondlager”or Halfmoon Camp), south of Berlin. These camps held thousands of African, Arab, and Indian colonial soldiers from the British and French armies who were imprisoned from 1915 to mid 1917. During his CoMuse Fellowship, Baptist will explore the experiences and the everyday life of these Indian Prisoners of War.
Baptist's research-based practice uses various media. He has exhibited worldwide in museums and galleries such as Somerset House, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; New Art Exchange, Nottingham; MAXXI, Rome; Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea; among others. His recent eponymous monograph was published by the In Flanders Fields Museum, Ypres, Belgium. The artist currently lives and works between Ypres and Paris.
During his Fellowship, the artist was hosted at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, where he participated in the Open Studios on 12 September 2024. As part of the Gästezimmer series, Baptist held a public talk and discussion with Maurice Mengel and Anna Szöke on 9 October 2024.
This Fellowship is part of a cooperation between the Ethnologisches Museum & the Museum für Asiatische Kunst / The Collaborative Museum and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. It is funded by COST Action CA20134, TRACTS Network, who are supported by COST EU (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).
