Abdul Halik Azeez (Sri Lanka) is a multidisciplinary artist and organiser whose practice navigates the paradoxes and absurdities of late capitalism and conflict in his environment. From a position of embeddedness within the phenomena he addresses, Abdul Halik engages in ethnographic interventions and the sampling of diverse archives to juxtapose and remix, tracing cosmologies that seek to connect the unconnected. He is a co-founder of The Packet, a collective formed in 2019, and often collaborates with other artist-run initiatives. 

At Delfina Foundation, Abdul Halik will explore museums and archives in London, searching for material related to mental health, psychology, and the medical apparatus in the context of Sri Lanka. His research will also involve exchanges with other artists to experiment with new ways of engaging the archive and performance. 

His work has been shown in exhibitions including the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane (2024), Breda Photo (2024), ‘Guest Relations’ at Jameel Arts Center (2023), and Videobrasil (2023). His film Desert Dreaming has been screened at Forum Expanded, Berlinale (2023), and BFI Festival in London (2023). He has been awarded fellowships and grants from the Prince Claus Fund, Magnum Foundation, Sharjah Art Foundation, and Pro Helvetia. Abdul Halik holds an MA in Linguistics from the University of Granada and has a background in economics and journalism. 

Abdul Halik was born in Sri Lanka and is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 

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Please note all artist-in-residence biographies are accurate at the time of their residency. For up-to-date bios please visit the artist’s website.