I have more than one home. I grew up in Kolkata (India) and studied in New Delhi (India) before moving to London (UK) to pursue my abiding interest in art and film curation.
As a film critic and programmer, I gravitate towards short-form storytelling, found footage cinema, and cinematic hauntologies. As an art writer and curator, I am interested in the intersection of image histories, archival politics, and narratives of repair.
My work has been published in several publications to date, including ArtReview Asia, Talking Shorts, Ultra Dogme, Momus Art, Art Monthly, ASAP Connect, e-flux Criticism, and PhotoSouthAsia. I have written for catalogues and anthologies by Serendipity Arts Foundation (New Delhi), Museum of Art and Photography (Bangalore), Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022, Rowman and Littlefield (Maryland), and Edition Fink (Switzerland); and curatorial notes for Kunstkasten Winterthur, Project 88, Gallery Maskara, The Guild, Vadehra Art Gallery, and Experimenter.
I am a recipient of the Art Scribes Award 2022 (conferred by Prameya Art Foundation, La Napoule Art Foundation and Institut Francais) and the Art Writer’s Award 2018 (conferred by TAKE on Art magazine and Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia), having attended the respective residencies at Château de la Napoule, France (2023) and Villa Sträuli, Switzerland (2019). More recently, I was selected to take part in the Talking Shorts/END European Workshop for New Curators #2 and the BFI Critics Mentorship Programme 2025.
I have a B.A. with Honours in English Literature from Presidency University, Kolkata, an M.A. in Arts and Aesthetics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. I pursued a second M.A. in Film Programming and Curating from Birkbeck, University of London, with the support of the Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarship from British Council India.
I currently divide my time writing between London and New Delhi.
Follow me on Instagram @notnajjrin and get in touch at najrin.islam.24@gmail.com.
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