Thukral & Tagra

Thukral & Tagra, the artist duo consisting of Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, explore a diverse array of media in their work. Their practice spans painting, sculpture, installations, interactive games, video, performance, and design.

Biography of Thukral & Tagra

Jiten Thukral was born in 1976 in Jalandhar, Punjab. He earned his BFA from the Government College of Arts, Chandigarh in 1998 and his MFA in 2000 at the College of Art, Delhi. Sumir Tagra was born in 1979 in New Delhi. He completed his BFA in 2002 from the College of Art, Delhi, and received his post-graduate degree at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

In 2009, the artists were invited to undertake a residency at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute. They continued their residency experiences in 2011 at Edition Copenhagen and at the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory near Dresden, Germany. In 2015, they participated in a residency at the Khoj International Artists Association.

The artist duo has had numerous notable exhibitions, including those at the sixth edition of the Asia Pacific Triennial, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Arken Museum in Denmark, Kunstmuseum in Bochum, Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, and Mori Art Museum in Tokyo.

Thukral & Tagra's Art Style

Thukral & Tagra blur the boundaries between fine art and popular culture, product placement and exhibition design, as well as artistic inspiration and media hype. Their works critique the globalization of consumer culture and its impact on contemporary India. Combining playfulness with humor, their art raises thoughtful questions about Indian identity—both as experienced by Indians and as projected to the global audience.

During their residency at STPI, they explored the tensions between digital and hand-guided art production techniques, combining the organic qualities of handmade materials and manual printing processes with customized digital components that enabled animation on paper. They work with a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, installations, interactive games, video, performance, and design.