(b. 1998, Dhaka, Bangladesh) is a London-based artist whose work explores social, personal, and familial histories. His installations and films are informed by intimate conversations and created in collaboration with communities connected to these narratives, forming an experiential autobiography that opens into a wider collective story.
contact.laisulhoque@gmail.com
Instagram
2024
An Ode to All the Flavours
2023
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side
Education
2020 - 2022
MA in Contemporary Photography: Practices and
Philosophies, Central Saint Martins, UAL, London
2016 - 2020
BA in English Literature, North South University, Dhaka
Fellowships and Awards
2025 East London Art Prize, Winner
2024 CIRCA Prize, Finalist
Exhibitions and Screenings
(* indicates solo)
2025The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, East London Art Prize Late, Whitechapel Gallery, London
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Auditorium Nouvelle Vague, Alliance Française de Dhaka*
An Ode to All the Flavours, East London Art Prize, Bow Arts, Nunnery Gallery, London
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Harlesden Video Club’24, Harlesden High Street, London
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, EXPERIMENTA at Ark, Ark Foundation for the Arts, FGI Auditorium, Sevasi
2024The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, EXPERIMENTA 2024, Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore
An Ode to All the Flavours, a day-long Exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London*
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Screened at Piccadilly Lights screen, London
(as part of CIRCA Prize)
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Screened at Limes Kurfürstendamm screen, Berlin (as part of CIRCA Prize)
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Screened at Essilor Luxottica screen in Cadorna Square, Milan (as part of CIRCA Prize)
An Ode to All the Flavours, Solo Exhibition, Kobi Nazrul Centre, London *
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Solo Screening, Project Banani 18, Dhaka *
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Solo Screening, Studio 6/6, Dhaka *
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Solo Screening, EkshoEk, Dhaka *
Shorts: Joyful Lands, Joyful Bodies, Chronic Youth Film Festival, Group Screening, Barbican Centre, London
I don’t Call Enough but I’m Here Now, Solo Exhibition, Oitij-jo, London *
2023Bhalo Basha, Group Screening, Toynbee Hall, London
ELO MELO Festival, Oitij-jo x Whitechapel Gallery, Group Screening, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Molasses Vases, Group Exhibition, hARTslane, London2022Ajker, Group Exhibition, Oitij-jo, London
Degree Show, Central Saint Martins, 1 Granary Square, London
Press/Reviews
202530 moments for 30 years, Artist Spotlight: Laisul Hoque
by Bow Arts
Private Histories, Public Spaces: Laisul Hoque on the Vulnerability of Personal Art on MOLA by Ella Monnerat
Laisul Hoque’s ode to flavours of his past on The Business Standard by Eshadi Sharif
Laisul Hoque Wins The 2025 East London Art Prize on SHOWstudio
Laisul Hoque Wins The 2025 East London Art Prize on FAD magazine by Mark Westall
2024Laisul Hoque @ Whitechapel on The White Pube by Zarina MuhammadThe Purpose Was to Document the Other Side on The White Pube by Zarina Muhammad
The Purpose Was to Document the Other Side: A Tale of Mediating Generational Gaps on
The Daily Star (BD) by Tasrifa Trisha
Writing
2023Time Is Moving At A Different Pace Back Home: Leaving Behind A Version Of Us, Small World City, Issue 01
Talks/Panels
2025Laisul Hoque in Conversation with Zarina Muhammad expanding on his East London Art Prize-winning installation, ‘An Ode to All the Flavours’ (2024), Nunnery Gallery, London
(video link)
2024Exploration of “tradition” and “authenticity” in the context of hybrid cultures, An Ode to All the Flavours, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Joyful Lands, Joyful Bodies, Chronic Youth Film Festival, Barbican Centre, London
I don’t Call Enough But I’m Here Now, 2024
a solo exhibition by Laisul Hoque, curated by Jannat Hussain
Held at Republic, the exhibition features four recent works spanning film, installation, sound, photography, and performance documentation.Through these works, Laisul explores interpersonal and intergenerational communication. The works carry reflective examinations, emphasizing the pursuit of honesty, catharsis, and connection.They offer a poignant view of vulnerability within family and self-understanding, navigating the enduring gaps presented by immigration, bilingual upbringing and Bengali culture.
Exhibition view of The Purpose Was to Document the Other Side (2023)
The Purpose Was to Document the Other Side is a short film by Laisul Hoque, capturing the artist’s mother’s journey to London. The film is recorded on a camera initially purchased by the artist’s father in 2004 to document his European journey when he couldn’t bring his family along. Informed by the exploration of intimate conversation, the film compares the artist’s upbringing with that of his mother, addressing generational trauma and confronting emotional distance from his father. Through this documentary, the artist engages in the powerful act of curating their narrative together—vulnerable and emotional. It presents a compelling example of reclaiming personal and familial stories in the face of external threats.
By deciding to record and hold these footages in the camera that his father used, the artist gives his mother a space to place her narrative, where originally it would be only his father’s and the artist’s. At the end of the film, the artist hands the camera to his mother, providing her with a means to contribute to the narrative. This action also serves as a nod to Cinematography by Runa Islam, the inaugural film/artwork where intertextuality was incorporated into the camera movement.
Exhibition view of How to Translate a Proverb (2023)
This work is composed of performance video documentation and an audio recording device. In the chest of drawers sits the recording device holding a compilation of conversations between the artist and his friends.
Four drawers are pulled out, indicating the four years of Laisul’s artistic practice present in the space. The top drawer holds the essay providing insights on the performance and instructions for using the audio device.
In How to Translate a Proverb (2023) the audience saw the entirety of your body in the space as you exerted yourself, breaking into a sweat. Scored by the audio recordings of the conversations, the documentation involved instructing the curator to use a camcorder tethered to a projector, directing the audience’s gaze to your forehead and your feet. So, what we see in this show is essentially something you extracted from the live performance that took place on that day. In a way, it feels like you made yourself the proverb.
- Excerpt from exhibition text: A conversation between Laisul and Jannat.
Exhibition view of I Wish I Could Tell You Exactly How I Feel (fluorescent tubes x2, coated in heat-sensitive paint, 2022)
The heat from the fluorescent lights causes the paint to disappear—revealing the original tube when turned on, and slowly turning black as they cool down when turned off.
The work is inspired by the artist’s inability to openly communicate with his family.
That’s where visible light and heat came into play… I noticed how the black ink was the darkest at the start of the day, and throughout the day, the light bulb gets lighter and lighter. It never goes back to the blackness it had at the start of the day. And I find that to be metaphorical of progress and how we see relationships.
- Excerpt from exhibition text: A conversation between Laisul and Jannat.
Exhibition view of Untitled, Dhaka (giclee print on archival paper, aluminium framed, 2019)