Working at the intersection of moving image, social choreography, non-western philosophy and pedagogy, Mriganka Madhukaillya proposes a cybernetic modelling of the world, both in response to current urgencies, and in the artistic tradition of indigenous Assam, with its focus on time and rhythm as markers of existence.

Originally invested in documentary film work, as well as public events aimed at reviving a defective space for discourse in India’s Northeast, Mriganka developed projects with Desire Machine Collective and Periferry which in time brought international attention to the singularity of the region. Between 2005-2018, his work was showcased in solo shows at Galerie Max Mueller, Mumbai and Project 88, Mumbai, and was part of landmark international exhibitions such as: Krishna in the Garden of Assam (British Museum, London, 2016), The Eight Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (Brisbane, Australia, 2015), After Midnight: Indian Modernism to Contemporary, India 1947 to 1997 (Queens Museum and Grey Art Gallery at New York University, 2015), Being Singular Plural (Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2012), Intense Proximity, curated by Okwui Enwezor, the 3rd edition of the La Triennale (Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2012), Indian Highway IV (MAC Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon, 2011) & Indian Highway V (MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo, Rome, 2011). In 2011, Desire Machine Collective took part in the inaugural Indian Pavilion at the 54th International Art exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Everyone Agrees: It’s About to Explode.

During the same period, he engaged in research and pedagogical work within the MediaLab at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, developing an understanding for systems thinking and philosophy, both western and indigenous.

His work thus gradually became at the same time more personal and more open, as he imagined long-term, transdisciplinary projects built around a core of social choreography, in which the perspective of the human is rethought without violence. Upon completion of a PhD dealing with the question of rhythm in cinema from a complex perspective of non-western philosophy and image tradition, Mriganka started incorporating more effectively these elements into his artistic work.

At present, his hybrid practice is akin to worldbuilding through its layering and multiplicities, while at the same time being directed towards the senses and the possibilities one has to liberate them from technological synchronisation and ontological flattening.