Debashish Paul, a multidisciplinary artist born in 1994 in the Nadia district of West Bengal. Paul graduated with a B.F.A. in Sculpture from the Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship, Kolkata, and an M.F.A. in Sculpture from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
Paul has exhibited and performed nationally and internationally including 2570 Revolutions Around the Earth, CREA OPEN 2025, Venice, 2025; Chennai Photo Biennale Open Call Exhibition, 2025; Samudra Manthan or The Stir of the Milk Ocean at Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, Ternife, Spain, 2024 as part of the residency; The Magic of the Silver Swan curated by Kinnari Sariya, Bowes Museum, Bernard Castle, UK, 2023-24; Prince Claus Fund Biennial Symposium in Sri Lanka, 2023; performance program with HH Art Space, supported by Pro Helvetia’s To-gather International Collaboration, 2023; Cite internationale des arts, Institut Francais Paris Residency supported by Prameya Art Foundation, and the French Institute in India in 2023; Kochi-Muziris Biennale Performance Residency in collaboration with HH Art Space and Nikhil Chopra, 2022-2023; The Students’ Biennale in Kochi, 2021; Of Liminal Beings and Other Spaces at Emami Art, Kolkata, 2021; Beyond Binaries: Sensing Art through Queer Lensing at KCC, Kolkata, 2021; and Emami Art Open Call Exhibition at Emami Art, Kolkata in 2020.
Emami Art has shown his works at various Art Fairs and Biennales including Art Dubai 2024 in the Bawwaba section as a solo project curated by Emiliano Valdez; India Art Fair 2023 in New Delhi, where he was also the India Art Fair Artist in Residence and Art Dusseldorf, Germany, in 2023. His recent solo exhibition A Thousand Years of Dreaming curated by Mario D’Souza was held at Emami Art in 2024. Paul has recently performed at the Jaipur Centre for Art as a part of the India Art Fair's Special Patrons Program in 2025. His performance and sculptural costume have been studied and discussed by Susan Marshall in her book Insubordinate Costume: Inspiring Performance published in 2025.
Paul has several awards and scholarships to his credit, including the BW Art Excellence Award 2025; Inlaks Fine Art Awards and Residency at 1 Shanthi Road Studio/Gallery, Bengaluru in 2022; Kalanad Scholarship 2022-23 by the Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation; Seed Award by the Prince Claus Fund in 2022; Inlaks Fine Art Award by Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation in 2022; Allegro 1st prize by Contemporary LYNX, London in 2021 and the Indian Artist Relief Fund 2021 by Museum of Art and Photography in partnership with 1Shanthiroad Studio/Gallery. He was selected for the Kala Sakshi Workshop in 2021. He was recently selected by the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, the Netherlands for a 2-year residency at the academy starting from January 2026.
Debashish Paul lives and works in Varanasi and Nadia, West Bengal.
