User:Sheetal S Agarwal 999/sandbox

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Biography
ARTIST BIO

Sheetal is an artist, photographer and award winning documentary filmmaker. Her documentaries have won several international awards including the Michael Moore Award Best Documentary Film at the 44th Ann Arbor Film Festival and the Best Documentary KODAK Award at the 20th Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. She was one of eight worldwide selections by Saatchi and Saatchi to do a short film in China. Sheetal has also been presented with the 2008/2009 Biennial Global Awards by the Triangle Media Group for her contribution to Film TV and Drama in the Asian region. Her academic research in documentary has examined the nuances of reality portrayed in the genre.

Sheetal has been painting and using mixed media fort her artwork since childhood. Her art explores themes that she has explored and been inspired by as a documentary filmmaker and scholar – memories, representations of reality and reflections on the nature of historical truth. Her artwork has been exhibited in Singapore, Spain, Germany, New York, Hong Kong and London. Sheetal has exhibited at the London Art Biennale 2017, and is selected as an exhibitor at the XIth Florence Biennale in 2017.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Sheetal was a PhD candidate under the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme at Lingnan University Hong Kong from Aug 2011 to June 2013. Her research focused on the impact of technology on the theory and practice of documentary films, and specifically on the nature of documentary truth. Her thesis explored the relationship between truth in documentary and the contextualization of photographic (and moving) images, image manipulation and editing, narrative construction and authorial intentions, specially with technology that enables the creation of multiple narratives versions of the ‘truth’ - out of the same raw audio-visual material.

Sheetal also taught VIS201, a second year undergraduate course titled “Visual Culture and Digital Media” in the first semester of the academic year 2011-2012, Preparing the coursework, lectures, reading lists, examination papers and graded the students. The course was singled out for special praise in the External Academic Advisor’s report on the Bachelor of Visual Studies (Hons) Programme for the academic year 2011-2012

Sheetal is a Masters in Fine Arts from the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong (2005), and graduated with a GPA of 3.9/4

Published works
List of Exhibition Held

Ion Art Gallery, 18th to 24th May 2015, Singapore

InterArt Gallery, 24th June to 22nd August 2015, Greifswald, Germany

Artelibre Gallery, 14th June to 27th June 2015, Zaragoza, Spain

Camden Image Gallery, 3rd August to 10th August 2015, London, United Kingdom

Asia World Expo Hong Kong, Hong Kong International Cultural and Creative Industries Fair, 20th August to 23rd August 2015

USA, New York Biennale Art October 2015

Hong Kong, Crossing Border – International festival of Crossing Media, Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre 4th to the 7th of February 2016

Solo Art Exhibition,Mutation at the prestigious Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, 2nd to the 7th of March 2016

Jul 26 - 30, 2016	Phoenix Gallery - 2nd Annual WFA Exhibition - Group Show, Chelsea, NY

London Art Biennale 2017 from 29th March to 2nd April at Chelsea Old Town Hall, King's Road SW3 5EE

Her own booth at the Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong 2017

Sheetal has been invited to participate in the 11th Florence Art Biennale 2017

Honours, decorations, awards and distinctions
Documentaries And Awards

Ordinary Lives : Oct 2005 Winner Best Documentary (Fort Lauderdale International Festival) Dec 2006 Finalist (San Luis Obispo International Film Festival George Sydney International Film Competition 2006) Dec 2006 Finalist (Sweet Auburn International Film festival 2006) Oct 2005 Winner (Michael Moore Award Best Documentary at the 44th Ann Arbor Film Festival 2006) Dec 2006 Winner (Best Documentary at the International Student Film Festival Hollywood 2006)

Home Away : 2004 Winner Grand Prize (Beijing International Student Film Festival 2004)

GEARING UP THE FIRE WITHIN : Dec 2007 Singapore Finalist (Asian Festival of First Films 2007)

Gearing Up : Official Selection San Francisco Bay Area International Children's Film Festival Jan 2009 Official Selection (Lake Arrow Head Film Festival 2009)

OTHER SELECTED PROJECTS INCLUDE

In Transit(2004)

A 7 minute experimental documentary, showcasing the director's return to her hometown and encapsulating the mental transition of a person as she moves from place to place.

In Transit Screening History:

Imperial Beach International Film Festival,USA, September 2004.

The Bride (2004):

A 26 minute documentary highjlighting the intricate patters of social behaviour in a ancient culture like India, as it tries to come face to face with several aspects of modern life.

The Ground Beneath My Feet (2005)

This 8 minute documentary talks about cultural displacement, felt through progression of ideas, and through process and behaviour that accompany life itself.

An advertisement for Hong Kong Blind Union

A promotional video for Operation Smile, OXFAM, Hong Kong