Elizabeth Kwant is a British Artist based in Manchester UK.

My practice bears witness to some of the most pertinent social and geo-political issues of our times.

Recurrent concerns include; global migration, immigration detention, colonialism, historical and modern slavery. Over the past twelve years I have partnered with local and national organisations, museums and galleries to give voice to issues facing the marginalised in Britain today. My films have been described as ‘hauntingly beautiful’ - holding beauty in tension with trauma, political urgency with quiet contemplation. I enjoy working with places and communities to co-create content and respond sensitively to their stories.

Examples include; Am I not a woman and a sister a four screen film installation co-created with female survivors of modern slavery produced for the International Slavery Museum (2019- 2020), Botanical Migrations commissioned by Sharing Not Hoarding to facilitate a project with urban gardeners across Dundee in partnership with The Maxwell Centre Garden and Ninewells Community Hospital Garden, the outcome - a public realm installation in Sesslor Gardens (2021), In-Transit performances for film tracing the western migration route in the Mediterranean informed by conversations with refugees at The Boaz Trust Manchester (2017- 2018).

Ongoing bodies of work include Habeas Corpus a powerful series of bright vintage style travel posters documenting every British Immigration Removal Centre, their locations and capacity and Toile intricate repeat patterned prints juxtaposing contemporary socio-political subjects within decorative historical patterns.

More recently, I continue my research into British Colonial history closer to home. Volta do Mar is a performance for film, which grapples with my own identity in relation to British history. Through time spent in local archives I’m seeking to unearth that which has been forgotten. The work explores issues around trauma, amnesia, memory, land, place and identity through objects, performance and film making connections between the UK and Caribbean, the past and present (2021-)

During my MA I studied Islamic Art and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art. Following this I spent two years living in Morocco studying Arabic whilst travelling widely around the Middle East and North Africa. This time profoundly shaped who I am. Living in a place as an ‘outsider’, navigating life in a different language then relocating back to the UK whilst leaving part of myself behind, helped me to understand what Salman Rushdie meant when he wrote ‘sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times, that we fall between two stools.’ These experiences nurtured a critical eye on my own identity, whilst developing empathy with those on the margins of society.

From 2015- 2019 I founded and curated Zellij Arts, a multi- cultural exhibition space on Rusholme’s ‘Curry Mile’, showcasing the work of artists working trans-nationally from North Africa, The Middle East and diaspora.

I currently live in Rusholme Manchester, where I enjoy cooking with my Iraqi neighbour and introducing my two daughters to a diverse mix of languages and cultures. I’m a studio member at Suite Studios Salford.

 b. (1983, Cumbria UK), currently based in Manchester. 

EDUCATION

2001-06      MA Fine Art (1st Class Honours with Distinction), Edinburgh University/ Edinburgh College of Art. 

FORTHCOMING

2026/27    Entwined, The Whitaker Museum & Art Gallery, Rossendale, UK
2026           “Bearing Witness” chapter in Curating Transatlantic Slavery: Contesting History, by M. Jones, published by Bloomsbury pp 16- 20.


SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023           Am I not a Woman and a Sister, Moving Image Gallery, Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre, Bury, UK
2021            Botanical Migrations, Sharing Not Hoarding, in partnership with The Maxwell Centre and Ninewells Hospital Community Garden, Dundee, UK
2019            Am I not a Woman and a Sister, The International Slavery Museum, in partnership with national charity City Hearts Liverpool, UK       
2019            Habeas Corpus, Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, UK 
2017            Mediterranea, DOK Artist Space, Edinburgh, UK

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025            The Cords that Bind Us, Motherlines Festival, HOME, Manchester, UK
2024            Da(r)shak, Govt. Museum, Chandigarh, India
2023            Da(r)shak, Bihar Museum Biennale, Patna, BR, India
2023            Double Vision, Atrium Gallery, University of Iowa, USA
2023            Double Vision, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA
2022            Double Vision, Art Gallery Serdica, Sofia, Bulgaria
2022            Double Vision, Gravurar, Santos/São Paulo, Brasil
2022            Double Vision, Kunsthuset Kabuso, Øystese, Norway
2021            What to do with Difference, India International Centre, Art for Change Foundation, New Delhi, India
2019            Time After [( )] After Time, The Briggait, Wasps Studios, Glasgow
2019            Displaced, The Travelling Gallery, Edinburgh (Touring) 
2019            Print: A Catalyst for Social Change, Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre, Lancashire, UK
2017            Still no Longer at Ease, IWAYA Community Arts Festival, Lagos, Nigeria 
2017            In Nothing Flat, Mark Devereux Projects, Manchester UK
2017            Greater Manchester Arts Prize, Manchester UK
2017            Framing the Crisis, System Gallery, Newcastle UK
2016            Europa, Transition Gallery, London
2013            Tracing Presence, Z-Arts, in partnership with Virtual Migrants, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, and Asylum Support Housing Advice, Manchester UK


RESIDENCIES

2025            Cove Park, Scotland
2020            International Artists Residency, Art for Change Foundation, New Delhi, India
2019/20     The International Slavery Museum / The Maritime Museum, Liverpool, UK
2018            Castlefield Gallery New Art Spaces, Manchester, UK
2016            Castlefield Gallery New Art Spaces, Manchester, UK
2011            The Mustard Tree & The Boaz Trust, Manchester, UK

TALKS

2024           Being an Artist and a Parent, Morphe Arts, Edinburgh, UK
2024           Artist Talk, Sputnik, Birmingham, UK
2022           Öteki Hikayeler/The Other Stories Podcast, İstanbul Bilgi University Center for Migration Research, Istanbul
2022           “Representations of Border Crossings in Media, Literature, and the Arts”, Symposium hosted by The Research Centre for Migration, Diaspora and Exile (MIDEX), University of Central Lancashire. 
2021            Botanical Migrations, Sharing Not Hoarding in partnership with The Maxwell Centre and Ninewells Community Gardens, Dundee, UK          
2020           Rights in Focus Network, Autograph, London,
2020           Artists Talk, Press Red, UK
2018            Radical and Real Film Shorts, HOME, Manchester, UK
2017            Artist’s Talk, In Nothing Flat, Studiobook17, Manchester, UK
2017            Artist's Talk, Nomas Projects, Dundee, UK

SCREENINGS 

2025            Volta do Mar, Push Festival, HOME, Manchester, UK
2022            Am I not a Woman and a Sister, Castlefield Gallery Open Screen, Manchester UK
2018            Radical and Real Film Shorts, HOME, Manchester, UK

CURATED 

2025           Musika - Ashleigh Beattie, The Giving Tree, Manchester, UK
2024           Istoria - George Sfougaras,  The Giving Tree, Manchester, UK
2024           Scarred - Rachel Ho,  The Giving Tree, Manchester, UK
2024           Street Eyes - Micah Purnell,  The Giving Tree, Manchester, UK
2023           Pathways - Geinene Carson,  The Giving Tree, Manchester, UK
2019            Mai Al Shazly, The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK
2018            On Being-Saima Rasheed, The Alexandria Library/ Asia Triennial, Manchester UK
2018            A Room of One’s Own, The Alexandria Library co- curated in partnership with Digital Women's Archive North [DWAN], Manchester, UK
2018            Me, Myself and I: Relocate the Multi-Layered Identity - Fatemeh Takht Keshian, The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK
2018            Tilted Plane - Lesley Halliwell, The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK
2017            Paradise Lost: Curatorial Art Lab, co-curated with Asia Triennial, The Alexandria  Library, Manchester, UK
2017            Personal Maps - George Sfougaras, The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK
2017            Fabric of Time: Seas of Space - Lori K Gordon, The Alexandria Library,  Manchester, UK
2017            This Cloth: An Archeology of Identity - Saffina Bhatti, The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK
2017            Stitching my Syria Back - Mohamad Khayata, The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK
2016            Ahmed El Hassan, The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK
2016            In Search of the Promised Land - Ashleigh Beattie, The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK
2016            Amang Mardohky, The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK
2015            The Coming - Rachel Pearsey, The Alexandria Library, Manchester, UK
2011            Curatorial Intern, MATHAF: The Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
2011            Exhibitions Curator, Blank Media Collective, Manchester, UK

REVIEWS/ WRITING

2024           Mixing it Up, interview by Mark Devereux Projects.
2024           Interview by Alastair Gordon for Sputnik. 
2022           "The Art of Listening: A Meditation upon the work of artist duo Gardner & Gardner" article by Elizabeth Kwant, in Artway, 2022.
2020           "Double Vision", article by Chloe Carroll, in International Print Exchange Program exhibition catalogue, Dec 2020.                                                                  2021            “Bridging Differences: Art for Change” article by Aaakshat Sinha in Art Amour India, (March 2021)                                                    
2021            “Botanical Migrations” article in Creative Dundee, March 2021
2020           “Am I not a woman and a Sister?” Article by Sara Jaspan, published in the accompanying exhibition catalogue, 2020. 
2020           Interview with Jonathan Evens, Artlyst, June 2020. 
2020           “Surveying the Land: Legacies of Slavery” published by Artway, Feb 2020
2020           “Am I not a Woman and a Sister”, review by Jonathan Evens, Church Times, Feb 2020
2019            “What’s New?” BBC Africa, Episode 74, Dec 2019
2019            ‘Slavery museum in Liverpool aims to confront painful legacy’ article by Russell Contreras (The Associated Press), published in The New York Times, The Washington Times, The Washington Post, Gulf Today, US News, Concord Monitor, The Jamaica Gleaner (December 18th 2019).
2019            BBC Radio Merseyside, Interview on ‘Upfront’ with Ngunan Adamu and curator Jean- Francois Manicom, 15th Dec 2019. 
2019            “Taking a look at modern slavery: exhibition at city's dockside museum provides welcome voice for contemporary victims” by Lorna Hughes, Liverpool Echo, 31st Dec 2019.
2019            ITV Granada News, Friday 15th Nov 2019. 
2019            "Modern day slavery put in spotlight" article by Lewis Batty, John Moores Journalism, 20th Nov 2019.
2016            "Settimo Tamanini: Trees of Great Mothers" article by Elizabeth Kwant, ArtWay, April 2016.
                
AWARDS

2024            The Eaton Fund
2024            Selected by Clarissa Corfe HOME Manchester, for a one-to-one mentoring session with Mikhail Karikis. 
2023            Sputnik Grant
2020            The Arts Council Covid19 Grant.
2018/19      National Lottery Project Grant, Arts Council England. 
2017            Selected for Studiobook17, curated by Mark Devereux Projects.
2017            Seedbed Grant.
2015            Seedbed Grant.
2006            The Andrew Grant Travel Bequest, Edinburgh College of Art.