Munem Wasif’s image-based works explore the notion of trace in its various forms. His complex installations often mix photographs with moving images, archive documents or collected paraphernalia to reveal notions of impermanence and insecurity. Never exhaustive and always open to interpretation, the narratives they develop simultaneously test the limits of documentary representation and the possibilities of fiction. Most recently, Wasif was awarded the Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University.
Spurred by an awareness of current challenges, Wasif investigates topics that often resonate in the global conversation. His working methodology based on long-term immersion, close contact with his subjects and systematic repetition eschews facile interpretations to convey layered, sensitive and sometimes contradictory observations on complex issues such as food sovereignty, labour exploitation or borders and migration. Wasif’s work has been included in exhibitions at the Center Pompidou, the Palais de Tokyo & the Visa pour l’image festival in France, at the Whitechapel Gallery, the Kettle’s Yard and the Victoria & Albert museum in England, at the Museu d’ArtContemporani in Spain, at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire & Fotomuseam Winterthur in Switzerland, at the Kunsthal museum & Noordelicht festival in Netherlands, at the Museum of Modern Art in Poland, at Parasite in Hong Kong, The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre in Vitenam, Gwangju biennale in Korea, Singapore biennale in Singapore, Sharjah Bienalle, Art Jameel and Ishara art foundation in UAE, AsiaPacific Triennial of contemporary art in Australia, and Dhaka Art summit & Chobi Mela in Bangladesh.
Munem lives and works in Dhaka.