Rah Naqvi (he/they) is an Indian artist currently based in Amsterdam. Their work engages in narratives themed around religious and societal polarization, often using art as a tool to question structural hegemonies. The materiality and techniques in their work are at play to create familiarity with the viewer; with satire, whimsical props, and themes of softness, you are made to believe something joyous awaits. Rah uses this familiarity, these grounds for communion to navigate more complex and dynamic subjects of belonging and imposed colonial identities. The language of queer defiance extends to their practice of singing, alluding to the polyphonic nature of love and revolution while cautioning against the monotony of a choiceless future.
They studied Liberal Arts at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai and Bachelor of Textiles at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
Rah had their first solo exhibition titled Bashaoor, at Clark House, Mumbai in 2018, followed by Sharam-o-haya, at Ame Nue, Hamburg (2019); how many songs from a single note?, at TARQ, Mumbai (2022); and when a name is laid to rest: archives of future present past, at AKINCI, Amsterdam (2023).
They have exhibited in India and abroad to include group exhibitions, namely Wrapped in the Shadow of Freedom, curated by Shaunak Mahbubani, organized by Sekhmet Institute at Prishtina Hotel, Kosovo (2024); Outside the soup, W139, holier than thou, Amsterdam (2024); Siblings of the soil, Melkweg Expo, Amsterdam (2024); Images of Power, Textile Biënnale, Museum Rijswijk, Netherlands (2023); Testimonies of othering and their impossibly possible futures, Kunstfort Vijfhuizen, Netherland (2022); Terra Incognita, AKINCI, Amsterdam (2022); Offspring, Always Hallways, De Ateliers, Amsterdam (2021); That those beings be not being, W139, Amsterdam (2021); Hunger, AKINCI, Amsterdam (2020); Inherited Memory, TARQ, Mumbai (2020); Heroines Now, AKINCI, Amsterdam (2019); A beast, a god, a line, curated by Cosmin Costinas, Para Site, Hong Kong (2018); सावधान: The Regimes of Truth, curated by Shaunak Mahbubani, Apexart NY, New Delhi (2018); Micro subversions Playbook, curated by Avni Sethi and Venkataraman Divakar, Conflictorium, Ahmedabad (2018); and The Exhaustion project, curated by Abhijan Toto, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2018).
They have participated in the De Ateliers Residency program in 2019-2021. They have also been part of the Forecast Forum Residency, Berlin in 2018. They were the recipient of Catalyst grant, Goa Open Arts (2024); Stichting Stokoos grant (2023); Artist Start Grant, Mondriaan Fonds (2022); Queer Twenty (2021); Stichting Niemeijer Fonds (2021); The Phenomenal she award conferred by the Indian National Bar Association (2019), and NID Ford Foundation Grant (2018).