Join artist Shiraz Bayjoo and Associate Professor at the University of Southampton Pritipuspa Mishra, alongside the exhibition With the certainty of tides, still I rise.
Shiraz Bayjoo’s research is anchored in the oceanic horizon, a connective thread that links between human and botanical life. In this group exhibition, the deep, rich colours of Bayjoo’s sculptural fabrics stand proud, placing the small island of Mauritius and its surrounding nations at the centre of his artistic practice, with the rest of the world radiating outward.
The works weave together modern and archival imagery, incorporating depictions of altarpieces and shrines that evoke spiritual and historical resonance. His works memorialise the now-extinct flora and fauna of the region, bearing witness to the ecological devastation wrought by colonisation and global trade.
Together, their conversation will interrogate the legacy of European colonialism and the pervasive Eurocentric worldview it has left behind.
Doors will be open from 1.30pm to view the exhibition before the event begins at 2pm.
Learn more about With the certainty of tides, still I rise here.
Biographies
Shiraz Bayjoo (b. 1980, Mauritius) is a multi-disciplinary artist who works with film, painting, photography, performance, and installation. His research-based practice focuses on addressing cultural memory, postcolonial nationhood, and challenges the authoring collective identity in the post-colonial world. Bayjoo has exhibited worldwide including Seeds: Containers of a World to Come, Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri (USA, current); The Plant that Stowed Away, Tate Liverpool, UK (2025); Sunlight on the Sea Floor, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico (MAC), San Juan (2025) and ICF, Diaspora Pavilion II, Venice Biennial, Italy (2022). He has been awarded the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, USA (2022) and his work is held in collections internationally.
Pritipuspa Mishra is a Lecturer in History whose research examines India’s cultural and intellectual history from 1800 to the present. Her current work focuses on language politics and literary culture in colonial India, exploring the tensions between unitary nationalism and cultural difference. She studied History at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and completed an MA in Modern Indian History at the University of Hyderabad before earning her PhD at the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining the University of Southampton, she was Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University and held the Fung Postdoctoral Fellowship at Princeton (2013–2014). She also served as Secretary of the British Association of South Asian Studies from 2016 to 2021.