Kiran Bhumber ਕਿਰਨਦੀਪ ਕੌਰ ਭੰਬਰ is an Indo-Canadian interdisciplinary media artist, composer, sound designer, performer and educator based in Vancouver, Canada. Bhumber’s interdisciplinary practice considers the mediation of memory through emerging interactive technologies and how the body catalyzes the activation, recall and reinscription of memory into the present. Her storytelling results in constructing interactive installations and performance systems that examine movement, touch, performativity and cultural memory.
As a composer and sound designer, Kiran is interested in multi-channel and spatial audio arrangements and how the choreography of sound can influence the listeners notion of space, time and narrative. Considering physical and virtual presence, Bhumber co-created “Telepresence”, a networked virtual reality surround sound live performance presented by Western Front, and was a composer and sound designer for “Tidal Traces”, a virtual reality 360 dance film by Nancy Lee and Emmalena Fredriksson with the National Film Board of Canada.
In her ethnographic research, Kiran studied the ancestral tradition of phulkari (means “flower work”) embroidery and uncovered how technology has transmuted the memories once imbued onto the cultural object. Her research culminated into her interactive performance piece “Phulkari'' which interpreted the tradition and memory through performance technology by cross-domain mapping the language of the Punjabi textile onto music, movement, visuals and projections.
Kiran Bhumber is a co-director of INTER/MEDIATE, a media art educational festival focused on cultivating growth within Vancouver’s media art communities and empowering BIPOC and disabled communities with access to technical and soft-skill workshops, artist talks and collaborative opportunities. Kiran has also developed and facilitated creative technology workshops and collaborative mentorships geared towards BIPOC, women and non-binary communities partnering with grassroots and artist run organizations such as CURRENT feminist electronic art symposium and Western Front society.
Supported by Canada Council and British Columbia Council of Arts, Kiran has performed and presented her work throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia at conferences and festivals such as SXSW, MUTEK (Japan), Cannes Film Festival, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, The International Symposium of Electronic Art (South Africa, Korea), New Interfaces for Musical Expression (Australia, Denmark), Toronto International Electroacoustic Festival and more.
Kiran received the Graduate Student Research Scholarship to attend University of Michigan and complete her MA in Media Art and Certificate in World Performance Studies. She also holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia. She is currently working with long-time collaborator Nancy Lee on a speculative-sci fi solo exhibition, UNION, exploring 3D scanning and printing, XR, interactive and immersive installations, scheduled for 2021 at the Richmond Art Gallery.
For inquiries:
email: kirandbhumber@gmail.com
Photo by Ashley Sandu