Vishnu in a performance installation
A MONOGRAPH IN MOTION / VISHNU VARDHANI RAJAN

A life lived
through
the body.

Artist, activist, body philosopher.
Born in Hyderabad. Based in Helsinki.
Never contained by one form.

PROLOGUE
BIO / VISHNU VARDHANI RAJAN

A hyphenated
identity.

Artist. Activist. Body philosopher. Born in Hyderabad, based in Helsinki.

Vishnu Vardhani RAJAN (they/them) was born and raised in Hyderabad, India and is best described as a Body-Philosopher and Performance Artist, now based in Helsinki. Vishnu considers themselves a hyphenated identity pursuing multidisciplinary practices that build connections between art, science, witchcraft, history and cultures. They find themselves consistently exploring themes such as sleep, conflict, nutrition, night politics, food, shame, investigation of sensory experiences, through various media such as dance, acting and stand-up comedy.

Oscillating between cultures, methodologies and sexual identities, each different from the other, are instrumental in their visual Language. Vishnu's persona Vamp Master Brown has become known as the first Indian Drag King to grace the streets of Helsinki, Finland. Vishnu intends to blend in their love of cinema and passion for film making with her ongoing practices, to explore new languages in story telling. They aim to embody the depth and breadth of affect theory.

This above list covers only my work only since my migration to Finland from India.

THREAD 01

The Body, Blood & Care

BLEEDING · HEALTH · SHAME
THREAD 02

Sleep & the Night

NAP CAFES · AFTERISMS
  • December 2022

    Divination as speculative storytelling space and Infinite Playlist Afterisms at Sons Of Lumiere pikku joulu.

  • May 2022

    Infinite Playlist Afterisms Session 2.

  • April 2022

    Infinite Playlist Afterisms Session 1.

  • February 2022

    CCC Convivial Complaint Cell + IPA Infinite Playlist Afterisms - performance on Radio program - Harboring the social. On sculptures Internationally and the Messiness of Public Practice. Radio Paleis Maashaven in Het Gemaal op zuid. https://www.operator-radio.com/archive/radio-paleis-maashaven-2

  • January 2022

    IPA Infinite Playlist Afterisms The phenomenon called Item Songs in Telugu films on Stream.roll.fm.

  • August 2021

    IPA Infinite Playlist Afterisms Night of Culture at Åland Museum

  • December 2019

    Meet to Sleep - Blank Noise Action Heroes.

  • May 2018

    Nutrition cafe and Nap cafe as part of Bluesfest Sweden.

  • April – October 2018

    Pop up nap-cafe a series of Pop up cafes, Alongside Pop up separation-cafe, Pop up nutrition cafe for queer.

  • May 2022

    Infinite Playlist Afterisms Performances, Facilitations, Curation and Organising.

  • 2016

    Naps, Rest, Chats and Radical Self Care with Social Science Research Lab, MIT and Clinton Foundation - India Branch.

  • Napping in Public Spaces in Solidarity with BlankNoiseActionHeroes.

THREAD 03

Food & Ferment

NUTRITION · CULTURES
  • January 2020

    Artists with Fermenting Cultures Publishers.

  • January 2020

    Kilpisjarvi Artists in Residency with the fermenting Cultures & with Microbes Scientists.

  • Fermentation.

THREAD 04

Vamp Master Brown

DRAG KING OF HELSINKI
THREAD 05

Poetry & Voice

SPOKEN WORD · THE EPIC
  • June 24th 2024

    ‘’Universal Queer Thisness’’ Tekstin Talo’s Pride Week Poetry.

  • April 10th -15th 2024

    Rosebush Syndrome - Critical Matters 2: Ecologies of Relation symposium, Erasmus University/Humboldt University (April 2024, Rotterdam), convened by Christoph Brunner.

  • April 10th -15th 2024

    Rosebush Syndrome - Critical Matters 2: Ecologies of Relation symposium, Erasmus University/Humboldt University (April 2024, Rotterdam), convened by Christoph Brunner.

  • January 2024

    Rosebush Syndrome (an epic in the making) with Clara Balaguer at the WereldMuseum Amsterdam.

  • March 2023

    Long form epic poem published on texttissues

  • September 2023

    Interconnectedness of sounds and silences that make home, a sound scape commissioned by Oyoun and convened by Nina Martin & Gabbah Baya

  • August 2023

    A Poetry Jugalbandi with Jaamil Al Kosoko Jugalbandi (literally "tied together"), is an ancient Indian art form where two poets with different styles perform together at ColorBlock 10 - 2023 Ponderosa Stolzenhagen.

  • July 2023

    A New World: Ecofeminist Summer School, Gallery West (July 2023, The Hague), convened by baruch gottlieb.

  • May 2022

    Poetry performance at Helsinki Poetry Connection

  • August 2021

    Spoken Word Performance as part of Hands-up exhibition by Kihwa Andale.

  • July 2018

    ‘I am Indian’ as part of Poetry as a resistance Program at Musta-Kissa curated by Rosamaria Bolom

  • June 2016 – Ongoing

    Twerk Poetry workshops (Temporary, Pixelache, etc)

  • November 2022

    TuoTuo to work on a poem called Accomplice

THREAD 06

The Moving Image

CINEMA · FILMMAKING
THREAD 07

The Stage

DANCE · ACTING · LARP
  • June 2024

    Participation with Samir Bhowmik’s Heat work Performance Lecture - At Decypher organized by Bio-Arts society.

  • February-March 2024

    3 iterations of the performance CRICKET

  • November 2023

    Baltic Theater Circle Performance Rampa Productions as part of Coming Stage Funded by KoneenSäätio.

  • October 2023

    Teaching the concepts of Feminist Economy & Trauma Informed Economy at Zeppelin University.

  • January 2023 – June 2023

    Performances commissioned with the grant from Taike

  • November 2022

    Cricket, One and a half over at Glow Up / Malla at Seinäjoen Taidehalli

  • September 2022

    Collaboration with River Lin At Antti Festivaali ‘My body is a Queer History Museum’.

  • August 2022

    ‘Ghosts in the machine’ LARP sessions at Ponderosa Berlin.

  • June 2022

    ‘Ghosts in the machine’ LARP with Her/Their story dancing in and beyond the rural network supported by Nor

  • May 2022

    Performance 'Tuning the Gaze" at Glitch Feminism book launch event.

  • May 2022

    Dance Tiger Dance at Revolve Performance Arts Festival.

  • April 2022

    Aistikkaat Kluubi

  • March 2022

    We have a selfie-story! Dancing Solo-together with Studio Skaftarp

  • September 2021

    To Rummage in Raw Matters as part of Raw Matters in Vienna Le studio Film and Bühne.

  • July 2021

    Queer Embassy at Madhouse Helsinki.

  • November 2020

    Video Performance For Finding Sisterhood mini festival by Fulkonst Sweden.

  • September 2020

    The already not-yet ‘Becoming Collective’ with Joy Mariama Smith, Ima Iduozee, Iida Nissinen, Jeanne Van Heeswijk. As part of Lapsody Paramatter, at Publics.

  • August 2020

    ‘Politics of Proper’ a Performance at Relational Art Week.

  • April 2020

    ‘I am Indian’ as part of the ‘greatest quarantine art expo’

  • April 2020

    Book-Binding as a choreographic gesture exploring the question can a dance be a song ? as part of P.i.R C.off - Stockholm.

  • September 2019

    BAM Biennale Mediteranne : Besmyslita (A form breaking Performance on ‘how to not be fucking seen while being hyper Visible’ with CV-Dazzle anti-surveillance make-up and mc-veillance methodology.

  • August 2019

    Sow Sew Talk Take Carrier bag, Festival Copenhagen

  • May 2019

    Collective Performance with Catalysti at World Village Festival.

  • Febraury 2019

    Word Performance at Caisa Culture Center as part of Venlanrunoiluyhteiso

  • December 2018

    I Am Exhibitionsit - Performance at Porinjuhlaviiko.

  • September 2018

    Ahtautuminen (Squeezing into the nature's wonders) at Jättömaa Festival in Kouvola. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk86kHce0zg&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0hxsY4hivl7k5qf4RdK5lLpjo1PkFkfctZ7aFLsIw58jw8eBV91RX9cDo

  • September 2018

    Radio Play with BlauFrau.

  • September 2018

    Performance 'I am Indian' - ‘I am exhibitionist’ as part of the Collective Intelligence Exhibition Opening Ceremony at Myymälä 2.

  • July 2018

    Performance ‘5th Wall’. A free experimental art session composed as part of the residency ‘Energia Akatemia’ at Art Center Antares.

  • March 2018

    Performance 'Tuning the Gaze" At Museum of Impossible forms Kontula Helsinki.

  • March 2018

    Performance "I am exhibitionist" as Part of The random Home Cinema at Short waves festival Poznan-Poland

  • February 2018

    Performance I am Indian (Gothenburg Kuntshalle)

  • October 2017

    Utti 'A post-colonial play' performance with a human inside a box at Feminist Forum

  • May 2017

    Tiger dance Opening performance Zoo Exhibition Imatra Taidebunkkeri

  • December 2021

    Delta, an oceanic call at the Museum of Impossible forms for PAM -Stockholm.

  • July -August 2022

    Teaching LARP at ColorBlock, Ponderosa

  • Blau Frau workshop on immersive theater with Poste restante theater group from Sweden.

  • Blau Frau workshop with Sandra Yi Sencindiver.

  • Dance workshop with Mårten Spångberg (Baltic theater Circle)

THREAD 08

Stand-Up

COMEDY · OPEN MICS
  • October 29th 2021

    Translating Comedy with Transquips x Madhouse Helsinki.

  • October 2020

    Translating Comedy with Transquips

  • August 2024

    Stand up at Stoa X UrbanApa Festival X Poc Open Mic

  • March 2024

    Stand up at Konttori Helsinki, MC’ed by Roxana Sadvo

  • February 2024

    Stand up at Das Gift Berlin, MC’ed by Anshita Koul

  • January 2024

    Stand up at the Moonlight comedy club hosted by Henri Näre

  • December 2023

    Stand Up at Stoa

  • August 2023

    Stand Up at Ponderosa Stolzenhagen (Germany)

  • June 2023

    Stand Up at Jakomäki Bar Bumerang

  • February – May 2023

    Stand-Up in Hyderabad at the Motor Garage cafe. Multiple Shows.

  • October 2022

    First Stand-Up Special Gauche Live and Recorded

  • Stand-Up headline 2019 at Luokko Pikkujoulu

  • Establishing Stand-Up in Hyderabad at Open Mics March 2023.

  • July 2017

    Start of Standup with many open mics.

  • 2017 – Current

    Stand-Up Comedy

THREAD 09

Research & Complaint

COMPLAINT · CONFLICT · INQUIRY
THREAD 10

Publications & the Page

COMICS · READERS · CHAPTERS
  • 2024

    A chapter on Schizophrenia as methodologies in the Book - A new world; Embodied thinking, ecofeminism & ecosocialism - Edited by Kolar Aparna, By University of Helsinki.

  • 2020-2022

    Glitch Feminism Translation group with Tutkijaliitto.

  • 22 Oct-8 Nov Helsinki Myymäla2 - Quantum Critic - Exhibition

  • 19 Nov - 19 Dec St-Petersburg, Russia - Quantum Critic - Exhibition

  • August 2020

    Perspectives - a four panel Comic strip - Worldcomics_Finland.

  • April 2020

    A copy - Four Panel Comic Strip as part of the Greatest Quarantine Art Expo. - Thisworksdiferently.

  • March 2020

    [Krah-seez] A reader as part of PiR - Publisher in Residence at C.off Stockholm.

  • Poetics of taking ‘it’ personally - an Essay.

  • 2019

    Chapter in the book ‘Decolonising Participatory Research through Arts-Based Methods’ (Editors Tiina Seppala, Melanie Sarantou and Satu Miettinen)

  • May 2023

    Performative Book Fair organized by Alina Buchberger & Pajam Masoumi at Kampnagel in Hamburg

THREAD 11

Community & Organising

CURATING · PEDAGOGY
  • August 2022 – February 2023

    Artist Facilitator at UrbanApa Miniresidencies.

  • December 2021 – Ongoing

    Her/Their story dancing in and beyond the rural network!

  • March 2018 – May 2019

    Artistic-Director of Pixelache Festival 'Breaking the 5th wall, Community Building'

  • Jan 2019 – December 2019

    Curating Performance Lab 'Bodies' at Museum of Impossible Forms

  • August 2018 – Ongoing

    Para-Nordic Institute Working Group

  • March 2018 – December 2018

    Curating Performance Lab 'Fierce Urgency of Now' at Museum of Impossible Forms

  • Jan 2017 – April 2020

    Radical Contact Improvisation Dance Gatherings in Sweden.

  • July 2016

    Seeds of Change Arts and performance summer camp for the paperless - Mobile - teenagers.

  • 2009, Moussa Touré’s trip and project coordination, translation, execution to India:

  • Nov 2008 – March 2009

    MAD in India with Olivier Culmann, research, local contacts and network development in India, perspective building of Indian culture to support the photographer’s project Alliance Française, India 2003 – 2008: Artistic and cultural projects translation, including pre production work for French artists and organizations in Hyderabad, translation of technical sheets relevant to sound and light arrangements, and precision documents for animation.

  • August – December 2023

    Mentorship and Artist Facilitation at LAPS program TEAK

  • August 2023

    Mentorship and Artist Facilitation Ponderosa Stolzenhagen at 10th ColorBlock

  • July 2023

    (17th-21st) - West Den Haag Ecofeminist ecosocialist Summer School

  • September 2022

    ‘’Stewardship curriculum’’ for the use of Toward Sanctuary Dome at Feinart and Zepplin University Gallery.

  • April – May 2023

    work with Jeanne Van Heesvik, Clara Balaguer , and the rest of the Community Portal team on the upcoming exhibition and public program Ultradependent Public School (UPS) at BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht

  • 2023 Decemeber – Ongoing

    Board Member of Mad House Helsinki

  • 2018 – 2023

    Board Member at Museum of Impossible Forms

  • Advisory member of Para Institutional Models (Sweden)

  • Board Member of Pixelache Trans-disciplinary Platform for Experimental Art, Research and Activism.

  • 2017 Organising Volunteers for Pixelache Festival

THREAD 12

Formations

RESIDENCIES · STUDIES · TRAININGS
  • February 2024

    Offline Berlin Decolonial Efforts

  • May 2022

    Study trip to Amsterdam Arts Week with Frame Foundation and Finnish Institute of Benelux.

  • July 2021

    Artists in Residency at Eskus-Hiap.

  • April 2021

    Lund - Ful and Studio Skaftarp

  • November – December 2020

    Platform - Vasa

  • August 2020

    Hyrsylan Koulu Residency as an invited artist by Myymala2

  • March 2020

    PiR Publisher in Residency at C.off

  • July 2019

    Berlin Ponderosa Transgressive Bodies

  • August 2018

    Berlin Ponderosa.

  • 2023

    Intersectional Feminist Policies Ombudsperson (In training)

  • 2022 – Ongoing

    Learning Sign language (ASL and LSF)

  • 2022

    Swedish language training

  • 2021

    Feminist Leadership Training with UrbanApa.

  • 2021

    Decolonial Nonviolent Communication with Meenadchi.

THREAD 13

The Rest

HOBBIES · SMALL RITUALS
  • Yoga.

  • DJ’ing.

  • ADHD - Agent.

  • Feminist-Economics

  • Twerk-Demonstrations.

  • Making-Paper With Kombucha Scoby.

  • Inside-an-airport Decolonial Art Reading Group.

  • Performance Arts Forum - reading group.

PROFESSIONAL BIO

Vishnu Vardhani Rajan (FI) is a bodyphilosopher. Her work revolves around the manifold aspects of the body. She makes live arts and performances to demonstrate the political, economical, sexual, social, geographical, and racial body. Her artistic output in recent years has defied genres and categories. Some examples include staged multi-media, theatre and dance performances, extempore performances in public spaces such as the Helsinki Metro, online video caricatures on popular social media like Snapchat, queer stand up comedy, pop-up cafes on the themes of separation, conflict, nutrition & queers, sleep. She is currently finishing her studies in Nutrition from University of Helsinki and researching sleep at the Helsinki Sleep Center. She is a board member of Pixelache and Curator of Performance LAB project at museum of impossible forms. She is curating the annual Pixelache festival in Helsinki with the theme breaking the fifth wall and community building. Vishnu has performed in the last two years in Berlin, Paris, Lille, Pori, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Oslo, Tallinn, Tbilisi and Helsinki. Frame Finland has now invited Vishnu Vardhani to participate in the International Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2019.