BIRENDER KUMAR YADAV

Re-Presented From The Traces

2023 | Terracotta

The project documents the lives of brick kiln workers in the city of Mirzapur, about sixty percent of whom are lower caste migrant seasonal workers. As migrant labour they work long hours and suffer malnutrition. Most brick kiln workers suffer broken ribs from the hard work. Children do not go to school. The season extends from November to June, after which their temporary homes are demolished. Over the years Birender Kumar Yadav has relayed their plight through media such as sculpture, photography, and installation.

In Re-Presented From The Traces, the artist has made casts of ordinary artifacts left behind after demolition, reframing them as sculptures. Through small gestures and everyday objects, his work carries a large emotional registry, yet he remains conscious of the gap between the objects and the lived experiences of the workers; conscious that the object’s emotional value lies in an original that no longer exists.

BIRENDER KUMAR YADAV is an Indian contemporary artist whose work is deeply rooted in his personal and cultural background. Coming from a family of ironworkers in Dhanbad, Birender's early exposure to his father's craft sparked his interest in art and craftsmanship. He embarked on a journey to study fine arts, earning his academic degrees from Banaras Hindu University and College of Arts, Delhi University.

Birender's artistic endeavors have gained recognition both in India and internationally. Notably, his participation in exhibitions such as the @berlinbiennale has brought his unique artistic language to a global audience. Drawing inspiration from his upbringing in a mining area surrounded by a working-class culture, Yadav's work eloquently captures the labor, life, pain, struggle, and beauty that characterize this particular social stratum. Through his art, he seeks to fuse traditional ironworking skills with academic knowledge, creating a visual dialogue that transcends boundaries and bridges disparate worlds. Birender lives and works in New Delhi, India.