Mani Kambo is a multidisciplinary artist primarily working in textile, print and moving image, based in Newcastle upon Tyne. She explores the inner spirit by drawing on her own personal totemic symbols. Influenced by her upbringing in a household filled with superstition, prayer and religious ceremony, Mani’s textile, fabric dying and printmaking work is rooted in Kambo’s family history within the caste system.
Mani focuses on objects, routines and rituals distilled from both the everyday and mythology. Through layering and editing images together she collages narratives and weaves dreamscapes. These visuals are repeated throughout her work like markers linking to notions of spirituality and belief in reincarnation.
Recent exhibitions and screenings include Sudden Beams 2: Extraction, Platform Asia 2023; Hinterlands Baltic 2022-2023; Jubilee Vane Gallery, 2022; Altitude, Womxn of Colour Art Award, 198 Contemporary and Learning, 2019. Solo exhibitions and commissions include Harewood House Biennial: Create/Elevate, 2024; Swimmers Limb Somerset House – Gallery 31, 2022; Lore GemArts Masala Festival, 2022; RIFT Vane Gallery, 2018; Semblance, System Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne 2018.
Mani is currently exhibiting a new solo show and major commission, Ax·is Mun·di at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, open until 1 June 2025.