Duo-expo - Ankush Safaya & Rita Leitão

Artists Rita Leitão (’98) and Ankush Safaya (’85) have been participating in an artist-in-residence program at Artist Residencies Enschede since early April 2024. Throughout their residency, Rita and Ankush have undertaken a journey of exploration and creation, each bringing their unique perspective and artistic vision to their work. Rita draws inspiration from personal narratives, translating them into paintings and objects that carry both a serious and humorous undertone. Meanwhile, Ankush offers his interpretation of Enschede’s historical imprints through subtle drawings and delicate works that exude an almost architectural quality. Find out more about the artwork of both artists below.

Opening: 15.05.2024 20:00 – 22:00

After the opening the exhibition will be available for viewing by appointment until May 22. To schedule your visit send an email to ritaleitao236@gmail.com with your preferred date and time.

Rita Leitão
Support Systems explores the intricate connections between Objects and Humans, offering a framework of principles that underpin our actions and assistance principles. These principles provide a boundless grid upon which individuals and society can rely. The project was inspired by a personal experience when the artist’s grandmother acquired a walker to improve her quality of life. This event sparked an exploration into the objects that assist us, prompting questions about what sustains us and bears the weight of our bodies. In a dialogue between the artist and life in Enschede, Support Systems invites us to delve deeper into our own structures.

Rita Leitão was born in Lisbon, Portugal. She graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Lisbon in Painting (2020). Her artistic practice revolves around the intersection of Art and Life, with a focus on daily-life motifs expressed through painting and object-making.

Ankush Safaya
The works by Ankush Safaya during his residency are based upon his observations of the city of Enschede. The city has gone through a complete restructuring after it got almost totally destroyed, first during the city fire and then during World War II. Safaya connects with this history through where the city has retained some of the structures of the old textile mills, as a memory of its past. The artist examines how city planners have integrated fragments of old remaining structures into their designs of new and modern architectural buildings, creating these as sites of tribute to the memory of a past and traumatic history. Safaya, through looking at the old maps and photographs of Enschede, views these integrations of the past within the city’s architecture, as offering an analogy of how past histories are retained within a collective consciousness. These architectural forms become the starting point to his works done during his residency at ARE.

Ankush Safaya born in Hoshiarpur Punjab India, trained as an engineer. He began his career as an artist in 2012. He is represented by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai and his work is in prestigious private and public collections in India and abroad. He lives and works at The Collective Studio Baroda India.