Artist Dan Auluk standing up, looking at his mobile phone whilst drawing white chalk on to a black board.

Dan Auluk (British-South Asian-Indian, b. 1970)

I am an artist born, living and working from home in Birmingham.

My art practice is rooted in conceptual and experimental approaches to drawing, live art performance, digital drawing, text, photography and video; with a focus on research, around self-compassion - how self-kindness, shared human experience, and mindfulness play a role in our emotional health and wellbeing. Creativity has always been a way for me to take care of myself by connecting to self, others, my lived experiences of trauma and anxiety; and a way to be kinder to myself.

Education & courses

2025 - Compassionate Mindfulness and Resilience ( a deeper dive), (4 weeks) - Angela Bhandari - Love Compassion

2024 - Living With Wisdomattendee, with Nanak Naam (10 weeks)

Compassionate Mindfulness and Resilience Course (4 weeks) - Angela Bhandari - Love Compassion

2023 - The Quest Programme - attended a 3 day psycho-educational and experiential process that allows participants to create a life they wholeheartedly love, London. Looking at Shame, Compensating for Shame and Cultivating your Authenticity.

2014 - MA in Fine Art , School Of Art, Birmingham City University.

2009 - BA Visual Arts, Birmingham City University.

2006 - Foundation in Art & Design, Matthew Boulton College, Birmingham.

Publications

2018

The Last Known Pose, Essays and Reflections on the Work of Qasim Riza Shaheen - Publisher.

Cornerhouse Publications; Publication date. 31 Oct. 2018 (A collection of written and visual responses to the works of British artist, Qasim Riza Shaheen. Essays, reflections and conversations, by eminent scholars, curators, artists and collaborators, consider the multiple aspects and the experience of his works.)

2015

New Art West Midlands 2015, Publication: Birmingham Museums Trust; Publication Date 31 Jan. 2015.

Five Years on, independent curator Indra Khanna brings together a collection of recent works by six New Art West Midlands alumni, one from each of the participating art colleges. The exhibition and this accompanying free newspaper considers what happened next in their careers, giving a valuable update on both their work and, more broadly, their journey after art school.

Selected Exhibitions, Projects & Residencies

2025

25 years (confetti), Summer Camp, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK.

1989 (video), Coventry Open, The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry, UK.

Frames of Discovery: An Evening of Art and Science, group show at Centrala, Birmingham, UK.

2024

Co-facilitated a 1 day workshop titled ‘depression and brain networks - a cognitive approach.’ as part of the SMQB residency with Dr Maria Dauvermann from University of Birmingham.

Lead Facilitator for a 1 day workshop titled ‘creativity as self-care - drawing approaches.’ for SMQB residency.

SMBQ artist in residence for 2024 (July 2024 - Jan 2025) – University of Birmingham.

C0-faciliating a 1-day workshop on creative writing with The Open Minds Project, Bishopgates Institute, London.

Engager/Moderator for Flourish, a new platform for GBTQ+ men.

2023

My Punjabi Mother, Her Dog and Me (A stage play, scratch tested at The Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham).

Winter Art Fair, STRYX Gallery Space, Birmingham.

The Quest Programme - Assistant, London.

Supersonic Festival Volunteer, Birmingham.

The Wandering (Short Film in pre-production).

SHUCK (Feature Film in production) with The Film Liberation Project.

Artist Talk for Homegrown, launch event at the new Jewellery Quarter site at STRYX, Birmingham.

2022

Open Screen Night, Castlefield Gallery Associates, Manchester.

Winter Art Fair, STRX Gallery Space, Birmingham.

BFI Network Directors Series (online).

Arts Evaluation for Foleshill on film project for Foleshill Community Centre, Coventry.

Sleep (2022) - Summer Show Reel - Eastside Projects, Birmingham.

South Asian Arts Collective Group Show, Asylum Gallery, Wolverhampton (Group Show, screening of Sleep (2022).

South Asian Heritage Month 2022, (online film talk with artist Asuf Ishaq discussing artist moving image).

South Asian Heritage Month 2022, SOAS University of London, (screening of Extremely Valuable Person and Mother by Asuf Ishaq).

2021

The Film Liberation Project showcase, Tin Arts, Coventry. (Screening of artist films, Sleep(2020).

Ikon for Artists, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (Group Show – screening of Extremely Valuable Person(2020).

2020

Looking at you and not looking down (Animated GIFs) 'falls the shadow' Router, The Wrong Biennale

Extremely Valuable Person, micro bursary for a new documentary from New Art West Midlands.

2019

Signs of Love Actually, Vivid Projects.

Birmingham Weekender, Vivid Projects (Workshop/performance on drawing and projection).

Black Hole Club members show, Vivid Projects. (In two places at once, 2-hour performance streamed live).

'We don't talk anymore' (video re-edit) (2019) - Summer Show Reel - Eastside Projects.

2018

‘...we don’t talk anymore 2’, STRYX Gallery. (Live experimental performance).

2017

‘...we don’t talk anymore’, culmination of a 6-week residency at The WIG (curated by Alex Billingham).

2016

Feature PROJECT (2016 – 2018), (a self-initiated 2-year online audio/visual collaborative project).

2015

GRASSLANDS (2015 – 2017), (a self-initiated 2-year outdoor residency programme).

The Lives Of Others, The Barber Institute Of Fine Arts. (3-hour performance during launch of New Art West Midlands 2015).

The Lives Of Others 2-week residency, First Floor Gallery Space, Mac Birmingham.

Micro residency, A3 Project space, Birmingham (produced by Trevor Pitt and facilitated by Simon Poulter).

Move Closer (video), Film Open 2015, ICA, Eastside Projects, Transmission, Castlefield Gallery, S1. (Selected by Steven Cairns).

7 Disorderly Dramas, Loud & Live, Selfridges, Birmingham - curated by Mona Casey and Sonya Russell-Saunders.

2014

ESP Film Showreel Selected by Benedict Drew

CPAGES/ESP exchange, TOAST Manchester/Eastside Projects, Birmingham.

‘But all the promises we make ...’, ‘Set your chatters to hum.’ - MA Final Show, The School Of Art Birmingham.

‘I am sorry to inform you ...’, West Midlands Open 2014, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

2013

TPMW Micro residency A3 Projects - Led by Simon Poulter, this intensive artist-lab is a mac birmingham opportunity, delivered in partnership with The New Art Gallery Walsall and Turning Point West Midlands.

Act 1: Zombie Poverty, Article Gallery, The School Of Art Birmingham (a live experimental collaborative curatorial project).

2012

Queer State - curated by Dan Auluk

“Brand” New Generation?, The Drum, Birmingham (panel discussion for Kalaboration is a partnership project between The Drum Arts Centre, School of Art Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD) Birmingham City University and RoguePlay Theatre.)

Castling, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2012 (Hanson Street Studios, Glasgow - ‘Castling’ was a collaborative project between artists in Birmingham and Glasgow initiated by Extra Special People for Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2012. The project took the form of a billboard exchange. Referencing the exterior billboard structure at Eastside Projects in Birmingham, two additional billboards were constructed in the Hanson Street Studios Project Space.)

Proposal 2, Works Gallery, Birmingham (a collaborative curatorial project produced with invited artist Oscar Cass-Darweish).

FRAME_birmingham, curated by Elly Clarke Gallery.

Allotment Project, mac Birmingham (collaborative curatorial project).

2011

Blood Sweat and Tears, Folkestone Triennial Fringe, Folkestone.

British Summertime 2, residency programme, New Art Gallery Walsall & Mac Birmingham.

2010

MILK, first solo-show for SHOUT Festival, Lombard Method, Birmingham. (Mulit-media installation responding to the feature film Milk (2008) and the story of the titular Harvey Milk, an American activist who fought for gay rights and became California’s first openly gay elected official.