Sarker Protick (b. 1986) is an artist primarily working in Bangladesh.

Protick has developed a practice that combines the roles of an image-maker, a teacher and infrequently a curator. His often minimal, suspended and atmospheric visuals are coherently open with vast and solemn distance. Working with Photography, Video and Sound, Protick’s works are built on long-term surveys rooted in Bangladesh and larger region of Bengal. The form and materiality of his works often morph into the physicality of time; its raptures and our inability to grasp or hold time, the process of image-making is a way to expand time and its sensorium. Here we don’t experience time as moving in a linear direction, rather, we experience it slowing down, recurring, having dips and curves, sometimes changing in a constant flux.


He studied at the South Asian Media Institute – Pathshala in Dhaka, where he is currently teaching for the last twelve years. Protick is a co-curator of Chobi Mela, the longest running International Photo Festival in Asia. He also co-curated the 8th edition of Colomboscope in 2024.

Some of his selected exhibitions include  ‘11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art , Brisbane (2024 - 2025), Australia, ‘Awngar’ at C/O Berlin, solo show, Berlin, Germany, (2024);  ‘Spaces of Separation’ at Bristol Photo, solo show, Bristol, UK (2024); ‘At the Edge of Land,’ Jameel Arts Centre, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2023-24); ‘To Enter The Sky’, Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2023); 2024, ‘Synaesthetic Notations,’ Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa, India (2023); “নিরবধি / Nirobodhi / Till Time Stands Still,” solo show, Shrine Empire, New Delhi, India (2022), 32nd Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), Singapore (2021); Afterglow, Yokohama Triennial, Yokohama, Japan (2020); Nach Uns Die Sintflut, Kunst Haus Wien, Vienna, Austria (2020); Noor Der Licht, Generation Z: Tell me, Gronigen, The Netherlands (2020); Stories of Earthly Survival, Ci.CLO Biennial, Porto, Portugal (2019); (Dis)Place, Foundation of Indian Contemporary Art, Korean Cultural Center, Delhi, India (2018); Breaking Point, Triennial of Photography Hamburg, Germany (2018); ‘Relics’, Esplanade Visual Arts Center, Singapore Art Week, Singapore (2018); Paris Photo, Solo show, East Wing Gallery, France (2017); Solo: ‘What Remains’ at Latvina Museum of Photography, Latvia (2016); Daegu Photo Biennale, South Korea.


Sarker Protick’s work has received several recognitions, including After Nature Prize 2024, Awarded by C/O Berlin & Crespo Foundation (2024); Foam Talent Amsterdam (2021); World Press Photo Award (2015); Winner of World Bank Art Program (2013) among others. Protick has received fellowships and grants such as Magnum Foundation Fund (2018) and Joop Swart Masterclass (2014). He has attended residencies like the Light Work Residency, Syracuse, New York (2019); Khoj – Curatorial Intensive South Asia (2019); Gibellina Photo Road (2016). His works can be found in the collections of Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, UAE, KNMA, India and Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, UAE.

Protick is represented by Shrine Empire in Delhi.