Sahej Rahal

Sahej Rahal (b. 1988, Mumbai) is an artist and Assistant Professor of Design Media Arts at the University of California, Los Angeles. Rahal’s practice draws on cross-cultural mythologies and folklore to create fictional worlds that take the shape of sculptures, performances, films, paintings, installations, video games, and AI simulation programs. Rahal employs various sources, aware of their cultural connotations and environmental impact: for instance, his use of terracotta references the earth as humanity’s earliest moldable medium, evoking functional and artistic traditions since prehistory; and he integrates AI and gaming technologies to design futuristic, fossil-like “mock” artifacts that blur the ancient and speculative. In his exploration of intelligence, AI is not just as a tool, but also a framework to examine alternative forms of cognition. Rahal has had solo exhibitions at venues including Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, opening February 2026; Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute, 2024; Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai, 2019; MAC Birmingham, 2018; and CCA: Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, 2017. His work has appeared in group shows at venues including MUNCH Triennale, Oslo, 2025; Biennial of Moving Images, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, 2024; 13th Gwangju Biennial, 2021; and Vancouver Biennale, 2019.