Art Basel Hong Kong: Anthems of Archipelago: We are King of Ocean by Parag Tandel
TARQ is proud to announce its participation in Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 with Parag Tandel’s sculptural installation at the Encounters Sector and Amba Sayal-Bennett at Discoveries Booth 1C47. Both displays will be on the first floor of the HKCEC, and we look forward to welcoming you there.
At the Encounters sector, Parag Tandel’s Anthems of Archipelago: We are King of Ocean explores how the Koli community’s consciousness and knowledge has evolved through generations and their ancestral bond with the sea. The work was selected by a Curatorial Group of four Asia-based curators, led and advised by Mami Kataoka, Director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, alongside Isabella Tam, Curator of Visual Art at M+; Alia Swastika, a curator, researcher, and writer based in Jakarta; and Hirokazu Tokuyama, Senior Curator of the Mori Art Museum.
As the earliest inhabitants of Mumbai, the Koli community has for generations cultivated intimate knowledge of the tides, marine ecosystems, and coastal rituals that shape their consciousness. Their livelihood, spirituality, and identity are inseparable from the ocean.
The installation composed of eight sculptures are layered with meanings. Using yarn to create marine-inspired talismans, each sculpture honors traditional rituals. The foundational armature refers to structures used in an annual ritual or performance called bharali, which serve as a tribute to those who have lost their lives at sea, serving as protective charms. The sculptures also feature non-anthropocentric icons inspired by marine life such as sea fans, sharks, manta-rays, and crustaceans. Tandel’s use of threads is akin to the tactility and spontaneity of the act of weaving fishing nets. It pushes the artist to play with form, colour and texture.
Further, the installation design features custom plinths, each representing one of Bombay’s original islands, forming an archipelago. This design reflects Mumbai’s evolving topography and the shrinking mangroves, holding ancient narratives within their changing landscapes.
About the Artist
Parag Tandel (b. 1978), is a Mumbai-based artist with a Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Sculpture from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda (2005) and a Diploma in sculpture and modelling from Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai (2003).
Tandel’s solo exhibitions include Archipelagic Archivist, curated by Shaunak Mahbubani, TARQ, Mumbai (2023); Autopolisphilia, curated by Noopur Desai, Sudarshan art gallery, Pune (2018); Chronicle, TARQ, Mumbai (2016); and Pregnant Room 1 and Pregnant Room 2, both showcased at Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2008 and 2010 respectively.
Most recently, Tandel was part of a month-long residency at ZKM Karlsruhe where he developed works in response to the space, shown as a part of ZKM’s exhibition Assembling Grounds: Practices of Coexistence (2025-2026), Fellow Travellers series. He also presented his work as part of Metta Pracruti at the 36th São Paulo Biennial, Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion, Brazil.
Some of his recent group exhibitions include Makers & Materials curated by Leandro D’Souza and Dr. Keli Wood, Sunaparanta, Goa (2025); Conscious Collective, Godrej Design Lab, Mumbai (2025); The Artist As, curated by Vaidehi Gohil and Sonakshi Bhandari, TARQ, Mumbai (2025); The Sculpture Park curated by Peter Nagy, Jaigarh Fort, Jaipur (2025); the second edition of the Indian Ceramics Triennale, Arthshila (2024); The People of Mumbai, The CSMVS Gallery, Mumbai (2024); Entwined Edition 2 presented by Apparao Galleries, Bikaner House, New Delhi (2024); Critical Zones: In Search of a Common Ground, Goethe Institut, Mumbai and Kolkata (2022); New Natures: A Terrible Beauty is Born, curated by Ravi Agarwal, Goethe Institut, Mumbai (2022); All Canaries Bear Watching, curated by Premjish Achari, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (2022); Fragile Kinships, curated by Shaunak Mahbubani, the Swiss Embassy, New Delhi (2018); Baroda March, Mumbai (2015); Small is Beautiful, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai (2012); The Art of Drawing, The Guild, Mumbai (2011); and AvaGard, Threshold Art Gallery, Delhi (2009) among others.
Tandel’s public art projects include How to Cook Bombay Duck in Various Ways?, outdoor installation at India Art Fair, represented by TARQ (2023); Vitamin-Sea, Mumbai Urban Art Festival, Mumbai (2022-2023); Tandel Fund of Archives, pop-up museum of fisherfolk, Mumbai (2020 and 2019); (En)counters- Daily Rations Public art project, curated by Artoxygen, Breathing art works, Mumbai (2017); Geographies of consumptions, Mumbai (2015); Big Catch, Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai (2012); and Sandarbh, Rajasthan (2011). Tandel has been a recipient of the Jhunjhunwala Scholarship Award (2003); Maharashtra State Art Award (2003); and All India Art and Craft Society State Award (2003). Additionally, he has participated in residencies at The Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taiwan (2018), Piramal Art Residency (2017), Space 118 (2015), Mumbai and in Partapur, Rajasthan.
He currently lives and works in Thane, Mumbai.
