The Singh Twins (twin sisters Amrit Singh

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

and Rabindra Kaur Singh

) are British artists who work together on their artworks. Their work draws on both traditional Indian (in particular,

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

) tradition, Western medieval illuminated manuscripts and contemporary Western culture, often 'pop culture'. Their work has been shown in galleries and museums such as the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Early life

Twin sisters Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh are British artists of

heritage. They were born in Richmond, Surrey, and raised in Birkenhead. They were the only non-Catholics to attend their Catholic convent school, Holt Hill Convent. In the mid 1980s to 1991 they studied art together at University College, Chester, followed by Manchester University.

Work

They combine traditions from both Eastern and Western art to make provocative and sharply political work. The sisters' work is always credited to The Singh Twins, even if the sisters have worked alone on a piece. The Singh Twins work from their studio near

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, which is next to the family home they share with their extended family. The Singh Twins' work is influenced by Indian miniature paintings, but deals with British contemporary culture, as well as topics such as globalisation and migration. In 2002, their work was the subject of an exhibition at the

National Gallery of Modern Art National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, making them only the second British-born artists, after

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...

, to be accorded such an honour. In 2009 their work was the subject of an exhibition, "The Singh Twins: Art in Motion" at

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

Art Gallery. The following year the National Portrait Gallery featured 27 of their works as part of an exhibition, and

Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens is a municipal museum in Sunderland, England. It contains the only known British example of a gliding reptile, the oldest known vertebrate capable of gliding flight. The exhibit was discovered in Eppleton qua ...

held a retrospective of the previous two decades' worth of their work. In 2018 they curated the ‘Slaves of Fashion’ exhibition at the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

in Liverpool. In 2020 they were featured in ''

Grayson's Art Club ''Grayson's Art Club'' is a Channel 4 television documentary series hosted by artist Grayson Perry and his wife, psychotherapist Philippa Perry and first broadcast during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first series was broadcast ...

'', hosted by Grayson Perry on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, and a work of theirs is in the accompanying exhibition at

Manchester Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three c ...

. Perry said of the twins, whose work he admires: 'They combine traditions from both Eastern and Western art to make provocative and sharply political work.'

References

External links

The Singh Twins' website
Living people People from London People from Birkenhead British artists English people of Indian descent English Sikhs Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-artist-stub