(b. 1998, Dhaka, Bangladesh) is an artist based in London. Drawing from his memories and lived experiences, he creates image-based works and installations that explore and decode microhistories and their global impacts. His practice investigates communication, miscommunication, and adopts a reparative reading of the past. By creating spaces to revisit societal norms and traditions, and advocating for the recognition of adverse elements, Hoque imagines how we can act in society.

contact.laisulhoque@gmail.com
Instagram 

2024  
An Ode to All the Flavours


2023  
The Purpose was to Document the Other Side


2024
I don’t Call Enough But I’m Here Now


2023  
I Wish I Could Tell You Exactly How I Feel






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


Awards



2025  East London Art Prize, Shortlisted
2024  CIRCA Prize, Finalist



Exhibitions and Screenings 

(* indicates solo)


2024The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, EXPERIMENTA 2024, Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore
2024An Ode to All the Flavours, a day-long Exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London
2024The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Screened at Piccadilly Lights screen, London
(as part of CIRCA Prize)

2024The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Screened at Limes Kurfürstendamm screen, Berlin (as part of CIRCA Prize)
2024The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Screened at Essilor Luxottica screen in Cadorna Square, Milan (as part of CIRCA Prize)
2024An Ode to All the Flavours, Solo Exhibition, Kobi Nazrul Centre, London *

2024The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Solo Screening, Project Banani 18, Dhaka *
2024The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Solo Screening, Studio 6/6, Dhaka *
2024The Purpose was to Document the Other Side, Solo Screening, EkshoEk, Dhaka *
2024Shorts: Joyful Lands, Joyful Bodies, Chronic Youth Film Festival, Group Screening, Barbican Centre, London
2024I don’t Call Enough but I’m Here Now, Solo Exhibition, Oitij-jo, London *
2023Bhalo Basha, Group Screening, Toynbee Hall, London
2023ELO MELO Festival, Oitij-jo x Whitechapel Gallery, Group Screening, Whitechapel Gallery, London
2023Molasses Vases, Group Exhibition, hARTslane, London2022Ajker, Group Exhibition, Oitij-jo, London
2022 Degree Show, Central Saint Martins, 1 Granary Square, London


Press/Reviews

2024The Purpose Was to Document the Other Side on The White Pube by Zarina Muhammad

2024The 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


Talk/Panel 


2024Exploration of “tradition” and “authenticity” in the context of hybrid cultures, An Ode to All the Flavours, Whitechapel Gallery, London
2024Joyful Lands, Joyful Bodies, Chronic Youth Film Festival, Barbican Centre

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)