Poulomi Basu
Champions of Tomorrow / Bhubaneswar, India
In the summer of 2023, photographer and visual artist Poulomi Basu was commissioned to explore the impact of sport and Olympic values education on school children in the Indian state of Odisha. She decided to focus on girls, who often face gender barriers.
Poulomi visited state schools where pupils have taken part in the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP). This international IOC initiative was officially launched in India in 2022, in partnership with the Abhinav Bindra Foundation and the Odisha local government. It leverages sport and physical education to impart fundamental skills and values that help young people develop into active, responsible and healthy citizens.
photo Gallery
2023 – IOC / Poulomi Basu - All Rights Reserved
A champion of women’s rights and committed artist, Poulomi Basu likes to blend the real and the fantastical into powerful imagery and storytelling using the language of speculative documentary. Her images, taken in the state of Odisha, celebrate sport and a creative process built on dialogue and collaboration as a means of empowering young people, many of whom come from humble backgrounds.
Through her use of smoke in different colours, atmospheric lighting and props, she creates a dramatic, dreamlike language that transcends classic documentary.
BIOGRAPHY
Kolkata, India / London, United Kingdom
Poulomi Basu is an artist known for her exploration of the interrelationship between systems of power and bodies through works that straddle the boundaries between art, technology and activism. She is interested in the ecological, racial, cultural and political issues experienced specifically by women in the global south. Her works give agency to those whose voices are deliberately silenced.
Poulomi Basu has received numerous awards for her art, including the prestigious Hood Medal from the Royal Photographic Society for her transmedia work Blood Speaks, which put menstrual rights on the international agenda and resulted in major political change.
Poulomi Basu is also a National Geographic Explorer and a fellow of the Foundation Social Justice programme. Her works are part of public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum (UK), Autograph, London (UK), and the Museum of Modern Art (Special Collections Library) (USA).
