Symrath Kaur Patti (1961, Kenya) lives in London. She is an artist, curator and educator. Patti studied Fine Art at Leeds Polytechnic, UK (1979-1981). After graduating from Leeds, Patti  established the Greenwich Citizen’s Art Gallery in Woolwich, London. During this period Patti developed pioneering co-design and collaborative ways of working with South  Asian women artists and South Asian women. In 1986 Patti curated the Asian Women’s Group exhibition ‘Jagrati: An exhibition of South Asian women’s work. The exhibition explored the themes of the diverse lives experiences of South Asian women living in the UK. Symrath creative approach was pioneering in locating her artistic practice within the South Asian women and curating work that worked in dialogue with members of the South Asian community in London. The Jagrati  exhibition also included work by emerging South Asian women artists Zarina Bhimji, Sutapa Biswas, Chila Kumari Burman, Bhujan Hunjan, Mumtaz Karimjee and others.  

In 1988 Patti was a founding member of the Panchayat Education Resource Unit,  with artists Allan de Souza, Bhujan Hunjan, Shanti Thomas and Shaheen Merali. Panchayat soon established itself as a unique resource and collection of politically Black artists working in the UK.  Panchayat curated the touring exhibition ‘Crossing Black Waters’ (1992). In 1991 exhibited her large-scale installation ‘ The Complete Promise’ at Centre Space, London. A work which explored issues of femininity as a commodity. The Panchayat collection transferred to the Tate Library, as a special Collection, in 2015. In 1994 Patti organised and curated the exhibition of politically Black British artists – including Keith Piper, Mona Hatoum and others for the 1994 Havana Biennial, Cuba. In 1993-94 Patti participated in the touring exhibition ‘Transition of Riches’ with her video installation ‘Cher Cher La Femme’ that explored performances of femininity by LBGT+ Asian men. Patti’s recent exhibitions include Phantasm Objective Reality as Perceived as Distorted by the 5 senses, Tabernacle, London, 2013; Queen Victoria’s Bicentenary Exhibition, Kensington Palace, London, Presentation of her work held in Women of Colour Index, Goldsmiths, London, 2021.  2021-2023 Patti completed her MA in Poetics of the Immagination at Dartington College, UK.  In November 2023, Patti’s work will be included in the Tate Gallery’ Women in Revolt! a major survey of work by over 100 women artists working in the UK from 1970 to 1990.