Talks & Speaking Engagement
Artist address during the NZICA Centenary Celebration, Auckland, 2026
Sheetol Chawla’s speaking practice extends the research, cultural inquiry, and artistic values that underpin her work in wearable sculpture. Through artist talks, public addresses, interviews, panel discussions, and cultural forums, she shares the thinking behind the work—opening conversations around cultural memory, migration, identity, craftsmanship, and the responsibilities involved in interpreting cultural narratives through contemporary art.
Her presentations frequently move beyond the finished artefact to reveal the research that precedes it: historical investigation, cultural consultation, material experimentation, construction, and the ethical questions encountered throughout the creative process.
Working across cultural contexts, Chawla approaches public engagement as another dimension of her artistic practice. Speaking creates an opportunity to place the artwork within a wider conversation—connecting personal experience with collective histories and encouraging dialogue around belonging, cultural understanding, and the preservation of memory.
Whether addressing cultural communities, creative professionals, students, industry leaders, or public audiences, her aim is not simply to explain the work, but to use it as a starting point for deeper conversation about the relationship between art, culture, identity, and human experience.
2026
ARTIST ADDRESS
NZICA Centenary Celebration — Auckland, New Zealand
Presented during the New Zealand Indian Central Association’s Centenary Celebration, commemorating 100 years of Indian service, leadership, and advocacy in Aotearoa New Zealand, this artist address brought Chawla’s creative practice into a significant civic and cultural setting.
Speaking alongside the presentation of Black Lioness and the unveiling of REINGA, Chawla reflected on the ideas that have shaped her practice: cultural storytelling, migration, belonging, artistic responsibility, and the potential of wearable sculpture to preserve histories and create dialogue between communities.
The address positioned the artworks not simply as objects of presentation, but as vehicles through which cultural memory, identity, and contemporary experience can enter public conversation.
Artist Address — NZICA Centenary Celebration, Auckland, 2026.
