Mata Ne (See You Soon) marks British-Indian artist Sutapa Biswas’s (b. 1962, Shantiniketan, West Bengal) first solo presentation in Japan. The exhibition, held at Fujiya Gallery in Beppu, showcases a series of video and mixed-media works developed during a two-month residency as part of the Kashima Artist in Residence 2015, commissioned and produced by Beppu Project NPO, with support from the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan.
Rooted in a methodology of autobiographical and oral history practice, Mata Ne centres on the personal testimonies of women from Oita Prefecture, who recount pivotal life moments through intimate storytelling. Through these recollections, Biswas draws attention to overlooked and marginalised histories, particularly those of women, seeking to challenge and decentre dominant patriarchal narratives within Japanese national history. The project creates space for women’s voices—amplifying their stories of labour, migration, memory, and survival in both public and domestic spheres.
Combining lyrical visual imagery with deeply personal reflection, Mata Ne positions oral testimony as a powerful form of resistance, memory, and community. Biswas’ artistic approach, shaped by her background in fine art and art history, engages in what she terms “spatial storytelling”—revealing how geography, identity, and memory are entangled. Her broader practice is marked by a sustained exploration of colonial legacies and their intersection with gender, race, and class. These themes recur throughout her career, manifested in poetic, politically-charged artworks that question the construction of both history and subjectivity.
Biswas’ work is often inspired by literary texts and art historical references, drawing from a wide range of cultural sources while remaining grounded in lived experiences. She is particularly interested in how narratives—especially those that emerge from the margins—speak to broader questions of displacement, home, and belonging.
Her critically acclaimed solo exhibition at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art (2021) brought renewed attention to her pioneering role within British contemporary art. Her films and artworks have been widely exhibited at major institutions including Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Whitechapel Gallery, Neuberger Museum (New York), Yale University Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Ontario, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Havana Biennial, and Iniva. In 2014–15, she was the Tate Artist in Residence for RadioCity, and collaborated with artist Mary Kelly for Tate’s online project On the Passage of a Few People Through a Rather Brief Period of Time (2015).
Mata Ne (See You Soon) represents a significant continuation of Biswas’s artistic trajectory: a body of work that honours untold histories and navigates the spaces between memory, identity, and power. Mata Ne, (See you Soon) was curated by Keith Whittle and commissioned and produced with Beppu NPO as part of Kashima Artist in Residence 2015. Supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan.
