15 July - 31 December 2022 - In Flanders Fields Museum Ieper

Baptist Coelho is a visual artist from India. He brings unspoken stories to life and gives meaning to psychological and physical distortions caused by war. His artistic projects are developed around various themes such as: conflict, war (and war museums), conscription, commemoration, heroism, emotion, fear, healing, the body, and gender. As part of his process, he conducts archival and ethnographic research with military and civilian personnel. 



"Like an excavator, I move back and forth in time, retrieving traces of the past and documenting the present across various geographies. My artworks probe beyond the surface to complicate, contradict and rethink oral histories, facts, memory, and its loss. I develop varied interpretations through the careful observations of found objects, languages, translations, random thoughts, imagined stories and strategically archived narratives. My interdisciplinary projects use diverse mediums such as installation, sculpture, photography, audio/video and performance."

Baptist Coelho (born in 1977) lives and works in Mumbai, India.  He is also artist-in-residence at Fondation Fiminco in Romainville, near Paris (Sep 2021-July 2022). His project at In Flanders Fields Museum will focus on the experience of Indian soldiers in Europe during World War One. The artwork(s) developed from this project will be on display in the dedicated space for the resident artist at the In Flanders Fields Museum from 1 July to 31 December 2022. As and when the opportunity arises, he will also intervene artistically within the museum before the exhibition.