Born in 1974 in Calcutta, Raqib Shaw spent his childhood in Kashmir His family relocated to New Delhi in 1992 after the political unrest in the region The artist first began working in the family business, which dealt with exquisite objects such as selling jewellery, antiques, carpets and fabrics While on a business trip to London in 1993, Shaw visited the National Gallery of Art The visit had a profound impact on him and five years later, in 1998, he moved to London and started studying at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design After he graduated with a master's degree in 2002, Shaw spent his early days as an artist showcasing his work in group exhibitions and working from a studio in Hackney Wick, London His talents were recognised by the co-director of the Victoria Miro gallery, Glenn Scott Wright, during one of these shows In 2004, Shaw’s first solo exhibition was held at the gallery Titled ‘Garden of Earthly Delights,’ the exhibition presented works inspired by the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch

Highly praised for his flamboyant and labour-intensive art practice, Raqib Shaw has carved a position as one of the important Asian artists in contemporary times The artist takes a meticulous approach to executing these extraordinary creations that open up the world of the artist’s imagination to the audience With a deft tackling of varied mediums of metallic enamel paints, gems, glitter and rhinestone, the labour-intensive process also includes using a porcupine quill to apply these enamel paints on different surfaces, a technique similar to ‘cloisonné’ used in early Asian pottery to decorate metalwork and ceramics In the past two decades, his creations have been the subject of several important solo exhibitions across the world  His work is housed in many prestigious private and public collections including the Tate, the British Museum, MoMA, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art