Riyas Komu

Riyas completed his Bachelors & Masters in Painting from Sir. from the J.J. School of Art in Mumbai in 1999. He is the Ideator of Kochi- Muziris Biennale and Co-Founder of Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation that established in 2010. He co-curated the first edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2012 and has been the Director of Programmes of the Kochi Biennale Foundation in the year of 2012, 2014 and 2016 and in this capacity, he has initiated the Students' Biennale, Children's Biennale (later named as ABC, Art by Children), Artists Cinema, Music of Muziris, Video Lab, Let's Talk series & History Now like Talks and Seminars, Pepper House Residency & Exhibition.

Riyas been the Advisor and Visual Arts Curator for Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa in 2016 & 2017[4] and he has done extensive research trips in sub-continent and conceptualized[5] and curated the 'Young Sub-Continent' project in 2016, 17 & 18 in Goa. He also curated the Kondotty Sufi Festival in 2019. In 2016 he started URU Art Harbour, a cultural hub in Mattancherry, Kochi, (Kerala) and curated shows which promote artists from the region focusing on Local Culture, Kerala's history of social action, Human migration and Maritime History. Uru Art Harbour also provides a well-supported artist in residency which includes exhibition and also engages with international artists. Komu co-curated first International Football Film Festival in India at Goa International Film Festival and Trivandrum International Film Festival in 2012.[6] As an artist, he has many solo shows to his credit which includes, Faith Accompli, Mark Him, Related List, Safe to Light, Holy Shiver & Out of Place. Komu's works have been exhibited globally including South Africa, Brazil, France, Germany, UK, Italy, Korea, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, USA, China, UAE, Belgium, The Netherlands and Iran among others.

• 2011

Inde, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

Contemporary Art from India, Helsinki Art Museum – The Tennis Palace, Helsinki, Finland

• 2010

INSIDE INDIA, Palazzo Saluzzo di Paesana, Torino, Italy

Midnight's Children, Studio la Città, Verona, Italy

Beyond Globalization, Beyond Art Space, Beijing, China

Subrato to Cesar by Riyas Komu, Gallery Maskara, Maskara, Mumbai, India (solo)

Safe to Light, Azad Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran (solo)

• 2009

Beyond Globalization, Beyond Art Space, Beijing, China

Arco Art Fair, Madrid, Spain

Threshold: Forging Narratives in South Asian Contemporary Art, Aicon Gallery, New York City

Indian Popular Culture and beyond Alcala' 31, Madrid, Spain

Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)

• 2008

Bodhi Berlin, Berlin, Germany (solo)

MARK HIM (Second half), Gallery 88, Kolkata, India (solo)

The Ghost of Souza, inaugural show in Bowery space, Aicon Gallery, New York City

India Crossing, Studio la Città, Verona, Italy

Frontlines: Notations from the Contemporary Indian Urban, Bodhi Berlin, Berlin, Germany

• 2007–2008

India Arte Oggi, Spazio Oberdan, Milan, Italy

• 2007

FRAME/GRID/ROOM/CELL, curated by Gayatri Sinha, Bodhi Art, Mumbai, India

Art Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I Fear, I believe, I desire, Gallery Espace, New Delhi, India

Other, AICON Gallery, London, UK

Annual show, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India

52 International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy

Think with the Senses – Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense, 52nd International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale

MARK HIM (First half), The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)

• 2006

Systematic Citizen, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi, India (solo)

Faith Accompli, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)

Bronze, sculpture show, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India

Art on the beach. Made by Indians, Plage de Pamplonne, Ramatuelle, St. Tropez, France

On Difference #2, Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany

Singapore Art Fair, Singapore

Enrico Navarra, Paris, France

Red Earth And The Pouring Rain, Lanxess ABS Gallery, Baroda, India

Viart, New Delhi, India

Strangeness, Anant Art Gallery, Kolkatta, India

• 2005

Span, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India

Endless Terrain, Lalit Kala Academy, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India

Double-Enders, Jehangir Art Gallery and Museum Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

Present Future, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India

Configurations, Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi, India

Are we like this only?, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India

Whose space is it anyway?, Gallery Espace, New Delhi, India

Mannat Jali, Marine Drive, Mumbai, India

Public Art Project, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India

World Social Forum, Porto Alegre, Brazil

KAAM, Aicon Gallery, New York and Palo Alto

The Third Day, Lalit Kala Academy, Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi presented by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)

GRASS, photography show, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)

• 2004

Group show during VASL Residency, Karachi, Pakistan

Bombay Boys, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi, India

A New Mediatic Realism, Bayer ABS Gallery, Baroda, India

Generation I, Saffron Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

Mumbai x 17, Kashi Art Gallery, Cochin, India

Anticipations, Jehangir Art Gallery and Museum Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

RED, Palette Art Gallery, New Delhi, India

• 2003

Sarasu, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)

Unconditional, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)

Hilights, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India

2D/3D, Visual Art Center, Hong Kong

Ideas and Images, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India

Art for Art/Switzerland meets India, Kalaghoda Art Festival, Mumbai, India

Crossing Generations :Diverge, 40 years of Gallery Chemould, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India

Sarasu, photography show on Raja Ravi Verma Press, The Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)

UNCONDITIONAL, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India (solo)

• 2002–2003

AMBULANCE, Renaissance Art Gallery, Bangalor, Indiae (solo)

Ambulance, Renaissance Art Gallery, Bangalore, India (solo)

• 2002

Asian Art Festival, Singapore

Harmory Shows (2004–1999), Nehru Center, Mumbai, India

Tribute to Picasso, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

Ways of Resisting 1992– 2002, Sahmat/ Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India

Creative Space, Sakshi Gallery and India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India

Words and Images, Guild Art Gallery and National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India

Creative Space, Sakshi Gallery and India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India

Harmory Shows (2004–1999), Nehru Center, Mumbai, India

New Delhi Crosscurrents, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

Engendering Images of Women, Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

Excerpts from my diary, Fine Art Company, Mumbai, India

The Human Factor, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

• 2000

Mumbai Metaphor, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

Mumbai Metaphor, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

Exile Longings, Lakeeren Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

Memos of the New Millennium – Artists from the Moulting World, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Mumbai, India

Ideas and Images, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India

Moulting World, Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Mumbai

• 1999

Critics Choice, Ideas and Images, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India

• 1998

He used to believe that EMS planted coconut tree in Kerala, installation, Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, India

• K. K. Hebbar Foundation Society Scholarship 1997 to 1999
• Bombay Art Society Award 1996
• Maharashtra State Art Prize 1995
• 'Critic's Choice' at NGMA 1999

• "Riyas Komu Profile,Interview and Artworks"
• "Riyas Komu on artnet". Artnet.com. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
• "Metro Plus Delhi / Events : Art finds anchor". The Hindu. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
• "artnet Magazine". Artnet.com. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
• "Safe to Light | Riyas Komu at Azad Art Gallery – Parkingallery Projects | Tehran". Parkingallery.com. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2012.