The Singh Twins

Amrit Kaur Singh and Rabindra Kaur Singh

Born in Richmond, London to Sikh Indian parents, the Singh Twins were raised in Birkenhead, the Wirral, where they were the only non-Catholic pupils to attend Holt Hill Convent. They went on to study art as part of a combined humanities degree at the University of Chester (then Chester College of Higher Education) and had their first solo exhibition in Preston in 1987. Since then, they have exhibited widely, in solo and group exhibitions, across the UK and beyond, achieving increasing recognition as leading contemporary British artists.

It was their first visit to India, in 1980, that led to the Singh Twins’ initial interest in traditional Indian miniature painting. They incorporated the style and techniques of this art form into their degree work, in the face of criticism from their art tutors who tried to redirect them to the work of modern European artists. In this context, their ‘adherence to the miniature style became a political statement’, as they put it on their website. So, too, did their determination to identify as a collective rather than as two individual artists, against the individualism associated with the contemporary arts in Britain and with neoliberal culture and society more broadly. Social and political concerns also shape the thematic focus of much of their work. Many of their paintings depict scenes that combine Britishness – including localized forms of Britishness – with Indianness, against homogenizing or purist understandings of nations and cultures; while others explore key events in India’s history, such as the 1984 Sikh massacre following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, or the First War of Indian Independence. Their portrait of the first Sikh resident in the UK, Maharaja Duleep Singh, is exhibited in the National Museums Scotland, and their 2022 exhibition Slaves of Fashion, which explores empire and its contemporary legacies through the histories of India’s textile trade, has toured to multiple locations since its initial showing in Liverpool.

While Indian miniature painting is a clear inspiration for their work, the Singh Twins cite a number of other influences, including medieval European manuscripts and European Renaissance art. As well as painting, their creative practice has taken the form of digital art, film, illustration, writing and fashion design. They have received a number of awards, including honorary citizenship of Liverpool (2009) and an MBE (2011), and extensive media coverage.