Kirtika Kain

Creative Australia
2025

Combining elements of sculpture, experimental printmaking and painting, Kain’s practice draws from her Dalit lineage and investigates material histories, ancestral memory and the complexities of caste in the diaspora. 

Her labour-intensive studio practice utilises materials of ritual, including pigments, tar, waxes and golds, challenging notions of sanctity and purity. Her work reflects on the vastness and dimensionality of caste-oppressed communities by exploring materiality and abstraction. 

Kirtika has completed numerous international residencies and exhibited in Wake Up Call for my Ancestors (2022), Berlin and Plea to the Foreigner, African Biennale of Photography, Mali (2022), Okkoota (2023) at Artshouse Melbourne, collaborating with critical Dalit voices in the subcontinent and diaspora. She has held solo exhibitions at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery and presented a new commission at the 24th Biennale of Sydney.

Creative Australia

Creative Australia, (formerly known as the Australia Council) is the Government’s principal arts investment and advisory body and is the centrepiece of Revive, the Government’s National Cultural Policy. Creative Australia supports and promotes creative arts practice that is recognised nationally and internationally, and provides research and advocacy on issues affecting the sector.

For more information, please visit creative.gov.au/creative-australia/