Sutapa Biswas: Ballad of the Flowers

East Gallery presents the UK debut of Ballad of the Flowers, a new film by British Indian artist Sutapa Biswas. Through flowers, dance, performance and stories of trade, the film explores how the tangled legacies of empire continue to shape questions of power and identity.

A significant figure in British contemporary art, Biswas has developed a pioneering practice spanning film, photography, installation and performance. Her work examines histories of colonialism, migration, race, gender and representation, bringing overlooked histories and personal narratives into dialogue with the present.

The exhibition presents Ballad of the Flowers (Chapter 1), a new single-screen short film developed through the East Gallery Fellowship at Norwich University of the Arts. Filmed in Norwich's Plantation Garden, it brings together dance, choreography and poetic monologue, using the garden as a stage for exploring histories of class, gender and power. At the heart of the film is a mysterious song shared between flowers, connecting botanical histories with the movement of people, materials and knowledge through colonial networks.

NUA staff and students contributed to the film's development, including costume design and making, movement, choreography and acting. Biswas has been part of the East Gallery Fellowship since 2023, and in 2026 the university awarded her an Honorary Professorship.