
Photo: Ulf Langheinrich
Kiraṇ Kumār (b.1983) is an artist, researcher and writer, approaching the human body-mind through a trifold practice of dance as art, science and spi/ritual.
Rooted primarily in somatic practices of Haṭha yoga, Kaḷaripayaṭṭ and Indic temple dancing, his research involves critical, conceptual and artistic inquiries into the cosmologies of these practices. In his works, these inquiries come into dialogue with pressing personal and planetary problems through performance, writing, video, installation and archiving as modes of artistic research publication.
Following initial study in mechanical engineering at National University of Singapore (2006), he holds an MFA in new media art from City University of Hong Kong (2012) and an MA in dance from University of the Arts Berlin (2014). His independent artistic research has been supported by Dance Nucleus Singapore (2016), Berlin Centre for Advanced Studies in Arts and Sciences (2016-18), Volkswagen Foundation (2016-19), Literary Colloquium Berlin & Robert Bosch Foundation (2019), Serendipity Arts Foundation (2020) and Academy for Theatre and Digitality (2021). Recent research fellowships include Akademie Schloss Solitude (2022) and Medienkunst NRW (2022).
Alongside his independent practice, in 2019 he co-founded the Sono-Choreographic Collective together with Kerstin Ergenzinger and Bnaya Halperin-Kaddari; a collective for transdisciplinary art and research.
email: kirankumar (@) archipelagoarchives (.) com
downloads: cv + portfolio