In her first exhibition in the United States, Rao will present the newest chapter in Pulp. Amplifying individual acts of resistance, solidarity, and witnessing, Rao’s work deconstructs the destruction of knowledge as a calculated element of war, oppression, genocide, and even ecocide to reveal histories of power and stubborn survival. At the Harnett Museum of Art, Rao will shift her focus beyond human agency to explore how we make sense of the natural world by integrating wondrous objects—rocks, minerals, ceramics, and other specimens—from the Lora Robins Gallery natural history collection.

Shubigi Rao (born Mumbai, India, 1974) is an award-winning multidisciplinary Singaporean artist and writer. She makes layered installations of books, etchings, drawings, pseudo-scientific machines, metaphysical puzzles, video, ideological board games, garbage and archives, and has been exhibited and collected in Singapore and internationally. Her interests include archaeology, neuroscience, libraries, archival systems, histories and lies, literature and violence, ecologies and natural history. Rao represented Singapore at the National Pavilion in the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022. She also served as the Artistic Director for the 2022 Kochi-Muziris Biennale. She has received multiple accolades for her artwork and writing, including the Singapore Literature Prize (2020), APB Foundation Signature Prize Jurors’ Choice Award (2018), and multiple grants from the National Arts Council Singapore. Her work has recently been showcased in major solo exhibitions, including Shubigi Rao: The Petrified Paths at the Rockbund Museum in Shanghai (2024) and Shubigi Rao / Pulp I-V at the Bildmuseet at Umeå University, Sweden (2025-26) and Tensta Konsthall, Sweden (2026). She has exhibited her work at major exhibitions around the world, including the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (2021-22), Sharjah Biennial (March Meeting, 2019), Kochi-Muzirus Biennale (2018), Taipei Biennial (2016), Pune Biennale (2017), the Singapore Biennial (2008), and the Singapore Writers Festival (2013, 2016, 2018, 2022).

Shubigi Rao is organized by the University of Richmond Museums and is curated by Orianna Cacchione, Deputy Director and Curator of Exhibitions. Major support for the exhibition is provided by the Booth Endowment for the Arts.