Sancintya Mohini Simpson is a descendent of indentured labourers sent from India to work on colonial sugar plantations in South Africa. Her work navigates the complexities of migration, memory and trauma—addressing gaps and silences within the colonial archive. Simpson’s work moves between painting, video, poetry, and performance to develop narratives and construct rituals that reflect on her matrilineal lineage.
Sancintya Mohini Simpson
Simpson is an artist and researcher based in Brisbane, Australia. Recent solo exhibitions include: Sugar, Milani Gallery, Brisbane (2022); New Old Archives, Milani Gallery, Brisbane (2020); Kūlī nām dharāyā/ they’ve given you the name ‘coolie’, Institute of Modern Art Belltower, Brisbane (2020); Echoes Over Oceans, Firstdraft, Sydney (2020); Remnants of my ancestors, Hobiennale, Hobart (2019); and And words are whispered, 1ShanthiRoad Studio Gallery, Bangalore (2019). Simpson’s selected recent group exhibitions include: Busan Biennale 2022: We, on the Rising Wave, Museum of Contemporary Art Busan, Busan (2022); Indigo Waves and Other Stories: Re-Navigating the Afrasian Sea and Notions of Diaspora, Zietz MOCAA, Cape Town (2022); Blue Assembly: Oceanic Thinking, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane (2022); This language that is every stone, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (2022); Staple: What’s on your plate?, Hayy Jameel, Jeddah (2021); and The National 2021: New Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2021). In 2021 Simpson’s work was screened at Art Gallery of New South Wales as part of Projections #6 New Australian video art: Cycle 1. Her poetry has been published in Correspondence (The Physics Room), Cordite Poetry Review and Peril Magazine. Simpson’s work is held in the collections of Art Jameel, KADIST, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, UQ Art Museum, and Museum of Brisbane.
Education
2021-current
- Current Doctorate of Visual Arts Candidate, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University
2016
- Graduate Certificate in Writing, Editing and Publishing, The University of Queensland
2014
- Bachelor of Photography with Honours, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University
Solo Exhibitions
2024
- Artist’s Rooms: Sancintya Mohini Simpson, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai
- par-parā / phus-phusā, Tales of Land and Sea, Bundanon Art Museum, Shoalhaven
- ām / ammā / mā maram, The Condensery | Somerset Regional Art Gallery, Toogoolawah
2023
- ām / ammā / mā maram, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth
2022
- Sugar, Milani Gallery, Meanjin / Brisbane
2020
- New Old Archives, Milani Gallery, Brisbane (with Isha Ram Das)
- Kūlī nām dharāyā/they’ve given you the name ‘coolie’, IMA Belltower, Brisbane (curated by Freja Carmichael)
- Echoes Over Oceans, Firstdraft, Sydney (with Shivanjani Lal)
- New Old Prayers, Metro Arts, Norman Park Substation, Brisbane (with Isha Ram Das)
2019
- And words are whispered, 1Shanthiroad Studio/Gallery, Bangalore
- Remnants of my ancestors, Boxcopy, Hobiennale, Rosny Farm, Hobart (curated by Hilary Thurlow)
2018
- Natal’s Coolie Women, CARPARK, Milani Gallery, Brisbane
- Bloodlines, Metro Arts, Brisbane
- Bloodlines, Blak Dot Gallery (Next Wave Festival), Melbourne
2012
- Notions of Difference, Ipswich Art Gallery, Ipswich
2011
- Epidermal Exigency, Queensland Centre for Photography, Brisbane
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
- (upcoming) Artes Mundi 11, National Museum Cardiff, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
- (upcoming) Sharjah Biennial 16, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
2024
- (upcoming) The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art, Meanjin/Brisbane.
- Cane, Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, Hervey Bay.
- Tales of Land and Sea, Bundanon Art Museum, Bundanon.
2023
- ARTIST POET POEISIS, Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
- TarraWarra Biennial 2023: Ua usiusi faʻavaʻasavili, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville, Victoria.
- Indigo Waves and Other Stories: Re-Navigating the Afrasian Sea and Notions of Diaspora, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin.
2022
- Blue Assembly: Oceanic Thinking, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane
- This language that is every stone, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
- Tell me a Story, Town Hall Gallery, Hawthorn Arts Centre, Hawthorn, Victoria
- Busan Biennale 2022: We, on the Rising Wave, Museum of Contemporary Art, Busan, South Korea
- 52 ACTIONS (Artspace Touring Exhibition), Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith
- Ayesha Hameed and Guests / Radio Brown Atlantis, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
- PROMISE the EARTH, The Lock Up, Newcastle, Australia
- Indigo Waves and Other Stories: Re-Navigating the Afrasian Sea and Notions of Diaspora, Zietz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa
- Busan Biennale 2022: We, on the Rising Wave, Museum of Contemporary Art, Busan, South Korea
2021
- Staple: What's on your plate?, Hayy Jameel, Jeddah
- AustrALIEN, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Canberra
- The National 2021: New Australian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia
- On Earth, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane (curated by Sarah Werkmeister)
- The Past is the Present is the Future, The Granville Centre Art Gallery, Granville (curated by Talia Smith)
- Drawn, Redland Art Gallery, Cleveland (curated by Annie O'Rourke & Natalie Wood)
- Disobedient Daughters, Counihan Gallery, Melbourne (curated by Sophia Cai)
- Making Ground, MONA FOMA x Constance ARI, Hobart (curated by Nadia Refaei)
2020
- LOOP, to Metro Arts with Love, Metro Arts, Brisbane (curated by Kyle Weise)
- 15 Artists 2020, Redcliffe Art Gallery, Redcliffe (curated by Hannah Williams)
- Collective: Ghost, Outer Space Ari, Brisbane (curated by Anna May Kirk, Sophie Penkethman-Young & Nerida Ross) (online)
- 52 Actions, Artspace, Sydney (online)
- Razzle Dazzle, Brisbane City Council Outdoor Gallery, Brisbane (curated by McCarthy-Swann Projects)
2019
- Past, Place, Future, Metro Arts Exchange, Mars Gallery, Melbourne (curated by Simone Hine & Kyle Weise)
- Moon In My Mouth, Schoolhouse Studios, Melbourne (curated by Jake Treacy)
- New Women, Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane (curated by Miranda Hine)
- Less Ordinary, POP Gallery, Brisbane (curated by Martin Smith)
- Botanica, Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane (curated by Ineke Dane)
- BEAUT19, Outer Space ARI, Brisbane (curated by Bridie Gillman, Alexander Kucharski & Chloe Waters)
2018
- Adorning, Caboolture Regional Art Gallery, Caboolture (curated by Hannah Williams)
- Cross-mending, Outer Space ARI, Brisbane (curated by Lisa Bryan-Brown, Katherine Dionysius & Amy-Clare McCarthy)
- Full Circle, The Lock Up (Critical Animals – TiNA), Newcastle (curated by Nannette Orly)
- The Churchie National Emerging Art Prize, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane
- Disobedient Daughters, Metro Arts, Brisbane (curated by Sophia Cai)
- Brisbane City Council’s BrisAsia Festival and Co-MMotion, Fish Lane, Brisbane (curated by people+artist+place)
2017
- Hillary Green + Friends: Born To Be Alive, Onespace Gallery, Brisbane (curated by Jay Younger)
2016
- The Annual, Boxcopy, Brisbane
- AUSASIA, Metro Arts, Brisbane (curated by Amy-Clare McCarthy)
2015
- The Narrative of Location, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney (curated by Shivanjani Lal)
- AND/BOTH, The Narrative of Location, Gaffa Gallery, Sydney (curated by Shivanjani Lal)
- Anywhere Elsewhere, Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane (curated by Tess Maunder)
- ALONE TOGETHER, Boxcopy, Brisbane (curated by Rachael Haynes & Brooke Ferguson)
- The Narrative of Location, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne (curated by Shivanjani Lal)
- conTENporary words of art, Sala Santa Rita, Rome, Italy (curated by Chiara Argentino)
2014
- The Subtropic Complex, James Street precinct (Institute of Modern Art), Brisbane (curated by Tess Maunder)
- Common Woman II, Metro Arts (LEVEL), Brisbane (curated by Lisa Bryan-Brown)
2013
- Crossing Borders: video art, place and identity, Northshore Containerval Festival (The Hold Artspace), Brisbane
- National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize, UQ Art Museum, Brisbane (curated by Samantha Littley)
- BEAF, Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts, Brisbane (curated by Rachael Parsons & Stephen Haynes)
2012
- Polarized: Political Photomedia in Queensland, Colour Factory Gallery, Melbourne
- Addition 3 (BARI Festival & Brisbane Fringe Festival), Addition Gallery, Brisbane (curated by Lisa Bryan-Brown)
- Current: An exhibition about Feminism, POP Gallery, Brisbane (curated by Lisa Bryan-Brown)
- Queensland Festival of Photography Portrait Prize, Queensland Centre for Photography, Brisbane
- Josephine Ulrick and Win Shubert Photography Award, Gold Coast City Gallery, Gold Coast
- FutureGen 2012 (FotoFreo Festival), John Curtin Gallery, Perth
Performances
2020
- Vessel/Vessel, with Isha Ram Das, First Thursdays, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (curated by Alex Holt)
2019
- sugar/cheeni/shakkar/sakarai/chakara/panjasara, with Isha Ram Das & Indarami Simpson, MCA Art Bar curated by Radha (Shahmen Suku), Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
- sugar/cheeni/shakkar/sakarai/chakara/panjasara, with Isha Ram Das & Indarami Simpson), Botanica, Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane
2018
- Cleansing Ritual, with Isha Ram Das & Indarami Simpson, Metro Arts, Brisbane
- RITUAL, with Isha Ram Das & Indarami Simpson, Blak Dot Gallery (Next Wave Festival), Melbourne
2015
- MA$ALA MILITIA ft. SEZZO, Fake Estate ARI, Brisbane
- CHICHI MA$ALA X BOY VENUS, ALONE TOGETHER, Boxcopy, Brisbane
Awards and Grants
2020
- Australia Council for the Arts - Resilience Fund: Create Grant
- Arts Queensland - QASP, Arts Ignite Grant
2018
- Finalist, The Churchie National Emerging Art Prize
- Brisbane City Council – Creative Sparks, Creative Projects Grant
2017
- Arts Queensland – Individuals Fund
- Australia Council for the Arts – Arts Projects for Individuals Grant
- Next Wave Kickstart Helix artist
2014
- Highly Commended, The GAS – Graduate Art Show and Survey Co. Art Award
2013
- Finalist, UQ National Artists’ Self-Portrait Prize
- Australia Council for the Arts – ArtStart Grant
2012
- Finalist, Queensland Festival of Photography Portrait Prize
- Finalist, Josephine Ulrick and Win Shubert Photography Award
2011
- Ipswich Arts Foundation Scholarship
Residencies
2020
- Artist In Residence (with Isha Ram Das), Metro Arts, Norman Park Substation, Brisbane (upcoming)
2019
- Asialink Arts Creative Exchange – 1Shanthiroad, Bangalore, India
2017
- Artist In Residence, House Conspiracy, Brisbane
2013
- Residency at ArtInn Jaipur, IndiaEducation
Collections
- Art Gallery of New South Wales
- Art Jameel Collection
- Kadist Collection
- UQ Art Museum
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia
- Museum of Brisbane
- Private collections
Exhibitions
Off-site Exhibitions
- Aug 4 – Oct 22, 2023Sancintya Mohini Simpson‘ām / ammā / mā maram’Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts
- Apr 21 – Jun 4, 2023Sancintya Mohini Simpson‘Indigo Waves and Other Stories: Re-navigating the Afrasian Sea and Notions of Diaspora’S A V V Y Contemporary, Gropius Bau Berlin
- Apr 1 – Jul 16, 2023Hoda Afshar, Sancintya Mohini Simpson‘TarraWarra Biennial 2023: ua usiusi faʻavaʻasavili’TarraWarra Museum of Art