In the lead up to the Traces of War Exhibition, the Department’s arts endeavours go from strength to strength. After the recent announcement, of thePhD collaboration with Ice&Fire theatre company, more good news follows, as Indian artist Baptist Coelho wins the 2016 Sovereign Asian Art Prize for his piece ‘Attempts to Contain.’  The Sovereign Asian Art Prize, now recognised as the most prestigious prize in its field.

As Leverhulme Artist in Residence, Baptist Coelho’s contribution to the Department of War Studies will provide an aesthetic perspective on the intersection of everyday life with war, culminating in an exhibition entitled, Traces of War. Working with Professor Vivienne Jabri and Curator Cécile Bourne-Farrell, Baptist Coelho’s work will make an invaluable contribution to the exploration and conceptualisation of the intersection of the everyday and the routine with the time of war, how the material, discursive, and psychological dimensions of one temporality come to permeate and affect the other.

Curator, Cécile Bourne-Farrell commented, “This prize is a fantastic gift for Baptist Coelho to dedicate himself deeper into his research and artistic practices in a turning point of his career.”

The exhibition, running from 26^th October in the Inigo Rooms, Somerset House East Wing, brings together three outstanding and internationally renowned artists, Jananne Al-Ani, Baptist Coelho and Shaun Gladwell.