A pioneer of performance art in India reflects on her decades-long journey

Source Scroll In by Kamayani Sharma
Today, every major Indian art event, be it a biennial or a fair, features performance artworks in its programme. But despite the form’s contemporary boom, its history in India is still inchoate. As art historian Rakhee Balaram says in a 2022 essay, “The genesis of performance art in India, including the histories of the 1980s, has yet to be written…” One person who is all too familiar with this history is Ratnabali Kant, a pioneer of performance art and, as art historian Partha Mitter points out, the first Indian artist to synthesise performance and installation.
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100 years after his birth, Francis Newton Souza’s art is seeing the resurgence it deserves

Source Christie's
Francis Newton Souza’s story is marked by rebellion and determination. Souza, who was born in Goa, India in 1924, was expelled from school twice as a youth before ultimately deciding to become an artist. Opting to join the company of other radical artists and revolutionaries, he joined India’s Communist party in 1947 and co-founded the Progressive Artists’ Group (PAG). However, Souza quickly grew frustrated with the lack of patronage and aesthetic identity in India. Looking for acceptance, he left his native country in 1949 bound for London. For nearly two decades, Souza would remain in the English capital. It was during those years that, through challenge and hardship, the artist would define his career and cement his legacy as one of India’s most celebrated modern painters. In honour of the artist’s centenary, Christie’s is proud to present Francis Newton Souza: The London Years, Masterworks from the Collection of Navin Kumar, on view in our New York gallery from 13–18 September. Chronicling his time in London, the exhibition features 26 artworks from the groundbreaking years Souza spent in Europe.
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Artist Jyoti Bhatt wins Balkrishna Doshi: Guru Ratna Award 2024

Source Stir World
The sophomore honoree of the Balkrishna Doshi: Guru Ratna Award is Professor Jyoti Bhatt, accorded the prestigious award in recognition of his exceptional contributions to visual arts and fine arts education. "It is with great reverence and admiration that we recognise Shri Jyoti Bhatt for his untiring commitment to furthering arts education, his quest for meaning and empathic self-awareness as an artist," Vastu Shilpa Foundation announces. Bhatt, a Padma Shri awardee, is a distinguished artist and revered educator who has had a transformative impact on the art world through his innovative practice and philosophical approach to art education.
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Godawari Dutta: The Model Woman Of Mithila Painting

Source Outlook by Arvind das
Godawari Dutta (1930-2024), the renowned Mithila artist, was among the galaxy of fine artists that Mithila has produced in the past sixty years. With her death, an important chapter of this traditional art form comes to a close, but her legacy lives on. Dutta was born in Bahadurpur village in Darbhanga district. Her mother Subhadra Devi, herself a well-known artist, was her guru. She told me: “My mother’s paintings, and those of Padma Shri awardee Jagdamba Devi of Jitwarpur, had a ‘folk touch’ in them. With the advent of modern education, there has been a change in both the subject matter and style.” She said: “No wedding ceremony can be completed in Mithila without painting.” In the 1960s, Madhubani paintings transitioned from wall paintings to paper, making them easier to buy and sell. Thanks to pioneer artists such as Jagdamba Devi, Sita Devi, Ganga Devi, Mahasundari Devi, Godawari Dutta and Baua Devi, very soon, it caught the attention of art connoisseurs across the world.
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These typography artists are introducing vernacular fonts to their creations

Source Hapers Bazaar India by Barry Rodgers
India’s linguistic landscape is a testament to its rich cultural heritage, boasting a myriad of languages, each adorned with a unique script that reflects centuries of tradition and evolution. From the flowing curves of Devanagari to the intricate loops of Tamil, these scripts not only convey language but also embody a visual narrative deeply rooted in history and culture. The diversity of Indian scripts serves as a wellspring of inspiration for artists and designers, offering a canvas where tradition meets innovation in a harmonious blend of aesthetics. India has been witnessing a revival of typography artists who are bringing an alternate perspective to Indian scripts, and melding linguistic influences to birth unique and distinct types.
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Amar Gallery celebrating surrealist Dora Maar

Source Meer by Patricia Gomes
Amar Singh is a British-Indian art gallery owner, art dealer, film producer, female rights advocate, LGBQT+ ally, and philanthropist. Amar is an activist who has been instrumental in fighting against LGBQT+ conversion therapy in India, and he has campaigned for the legislation of same-sex relationships in India. Amar’s art inspirations include Helen Frankenthaler, Dora Maar, Jean Cocteau, Lynne Mapp Drexler, Grace Harrigan, Perle Fine, Judith Godwin, Lawrence Calcagno, Alice Baber, Howard Tangye—most of these trailblazing artists he has shown at his first London gallery in Islington.
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Gulam Mohammed Sheikh talks to Bazaar India about figurative art, his evolution as an artist, his influences, and more.

Source Haper's Bazzar India by by Jishnu Bandyopadhyay
For more than six decades, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh has been a weaver of worlds. Not on a loom, but on canvas, and with words as fine as threads. He is a painter, a poet, and a writer who sees time not as a linear path, but as a shimmering fabric where past, present, and future intertwine. Bazaar India sits down with the 87-year-old for a conversation at his exhibition at Mumbai’s Chemould Prescott Road, titled Kaarawaan and Other Works, organised in association with Delhi-based Vadehra Art Gallery.
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The 7 best museums in Mumbai

Source Conde nast Traveller by Prachi Joshi
The bustling megapolis of Mumbai may be known as the financial capital of the country, but it’s also a treasure trove of history, culture, and art. Its museums not only preserve the rich legacy of the region but also provide a vibrant platform for artistic expression. From ancient history to contemporary art to the wondrous world of cinema, there’s something for every kind of museum geek. An added bonus is the remarkable architecture of these museums, many of which are housed in historical buildings. For the discerning culture vulture, here are the 7 best museums in Mumbai.
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20 art galleries in Mumbai that should be on your radar

Source Architectural Digest by Neerja Deodhar
As birthplace and backdrop, Mumbai and its vast sea have witnessed a number of art movements and talents that went on to shape the national conversation. An artistic legacy that began in the 1940s with the Progressive Artists’ Group—featuring MF Husain and FN Souza—continues to thrive, nearly a century on: While initiatives like Art & Wonderment have introduced curious outsiders to the city’s art scene, 2023 saw the debut edition of a homegrown fair for seasoned patrons and collectors. Art galleries in Mumbai have played a key part in this journey. Consider the Jehangir Art Gallery, established in 1952, where the first camaraderies and controversies brewed—across exhibition halls and the iconic Samovar cafe. The last decade has seen the rise of young, experimental spaces and efforts to take the city’s art scene to the suburbs, far beyond its traditional precincts. Here’s a definitive list of 20 art galleries in Mumbai that deserve a place on your map.
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From one enfant terrible to another: Decoding the mystery of FN Souza’s sketch of a Russian composer

Source Scroll In by Luis Dias
Stravinsky, especially after the scandalous 1913 Paris premiere of his revolutionary ballet Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) was labelled the “enfant terrible” of classical music of his time. The famous auction house Christie’s called Souza the “enfant terrible” of Modern Indian art. The enduring formative impression of Roman Catholicism in Souza’s Goan childhood on his art is well-documented. Yashodhara Dalmia, in the chapter A Passion for the Human Figure: Francis Newton Souza of the above-mentioned book The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, quotes him extensively on the subject. Although Stravinsky drifted away in his adult years from the Russian Orthodox Church he had been born into, his homesickness while in Europe drew him back to the faith, “a portable piece of Russia”. An especially moving ceremony at the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua in 1926 while on a concert tour made him formally rejoin the Church. A slew of sacred compositions followed, most famously his Symphony of Psalms for chorus and orchestra (1930, rev 1948) and Canticum Sacrum for tenor, baritone, chorus and orchestra (1955). Souza and Stravinsky also had inspirational subject matter (in addition to Christianity, of course) that overlapped. Oedipus Rex, based on Sophocles’ tragedy, was a Stravinsky opera-oratorio (1927). The inspiration for Souza’s 1961 depiction of the tragic king was (as he himself explained) his own irrational feeling of guilt that his father died soon after his birth, and the disturbing revelation of surreptitiously watching his mother bathe through a hole he bored in the door. Imagine what Freud (Sigmund, not Lucian) would have made of that! It certainly puts his obsession with the female anatomy in perspective.
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Soaring graph of Nasreen Mohamedi, abstractionist par excellence

Souce BizzBuzz News by Archana Khare-Ghose
With some superlative auction results for Indian modern and contemporary art in the first four months of this year, the art market is looking good, healthier than before, and poised for even greater innings once the next bout of auction fever strikes in September-October. There have been several great takeaways from the auctions of Indian modern and contemporary art held by AstaGuru, Christie’s, Pundole’s, Saffronart, and Sotheby’s between March and April this year. That has given opportunities to art lovers like me to discover newer talking points and analyse how works of the great masters are progressing over their previous record prices at auctions. In this column this week, I would like to share what I have learnt about the seminal abstractionist Nasreen Mohamedi, whose works are climbing the ladder of popularity at auctions, which is feeding into curiosity about her and her art in what can be called a long overdue attention that she deserved in her lifetime. The biggest hook for this write-up on Mohamedi is the fact that at the recently concluded Pundole’s Fine Art Sale on April 25 in Mumbai, her Untitled work sold for Rs 11 crore, setting the world auction record for the artist. Nasreen Mohamedi (1937-1990), a towering figure among art practitioners, first came into popular limelight when in 2015-2016, two important museums of the world, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, and the Met Breuer in New York, hosted her solo exhibition, titled ‘Nasreen Mohamedi: Waiting is a Part of Intense Living’.
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The Ultimate Venice Biennale Collateral Events 2024

Source Artlyst by Lee Sharrock
The Rooted Nomad, presented by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, celebrates the iconic contemporary Indian artist whose itinerant spirit embraced all nuances of life. M.F. Husain (1915– 2011) was a peripatetic spirit who channelled his many experiences and journeys into an artistic practice investigating questions of mobility, migration, crossing borders and beyond fixed boundaries. The Rooted Nomad exhibition in Venice resonates with the Stranieri Uvunque theme of the 60th Biennale Arte, for Husain’s art was centred around notions on the ‘yatra’ or journey both as a crux to civilisational ethos and artistic calling as well as a metaphor for transformation. Husain first exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1954. He was one of the first artists from India to present his works in Venice.
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Matthew Krishanu in the Studio

Source Ocula by Annabel Downes
Two young boys cling onto the limbs of a spindly banyan tree. A woman dressed in a sari sits on a sofa below a painting of Christ. A congregation of church-goers face a Christian priest in the Church of Bangladesh. Many of these moments were experienced during London-based painter Matthew Krishanu's upbringing in South Asia, and then re-experienced through his quiet and economical brush. At Camden Art Centre, Krishanu's solo exhibition, The Bough Breaks (26 April–23 June 2024), follows a string of remarkable painting shows at the London institution by artists such as Martin Wong, Mohammed Sami, and Allison Katz. Ahead of the exhibition, Ocula Advisory visited Krishanu's East London studio to discuss his latest paintings and drawings, the Joan Mitchell tree paintings pinned to his studio wall, and how he measures his own paintings' success.
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India at Venice: no pavilion but more presence than ever before

Source The Art Newspaper by Kabir Jhala
India, the world's most populous country, once again does not have a pavilion at the Venice Biennale, the 60th edition of which opens to the public on Saturday (20 April-24 November). The country's national participation has been scarce and inconsistent: just two India pavilions have been staged in the Biennale’s 125-year history, one in 2011 and the second in 2019. Nonetheless, this year at Venice, the presence of Indian art and the industry behind it has never been greater. Adriano Pedrosa’s international exhibition, Foreigners Everywhere, includes 12 Indian artists—an all-time record, and quadruple the amount of the previous Biennale. Featured in the Global South-focused show are the contemporary artist Monika Correa and the Bangalore-based women-led collective Aravani Art Project, as well as major 20th-century figures including Amrita Sher-Gil, S.H. Raza, Bhupen Khakar and Jamini Roy. Artists belonging to the Indian diaspora—the world’s largest—will also participate in a handful of national pavilions and official collateral events. One of the three artists representing Finland this year is the Patna-born Vidha Saumya, who is showing cross-stitched digital photographs. And Eva Koťátková’s Czech and Slovak pavilion about a dead giraffe is made in collaboration with Himali Singh Soin, who is based between New Delhi and London.
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‘We Are No Longer Caged’: Indian Trans Artists Reflect on Landmark Court Ruling in Venice

Source ArtNet News by Vivienne Chow
To Karnika Bai, Shanthi Muniswamy, and Joythi H., the opening of their eye-catching, monumental mural Diaspore (2024) at the Arsenale was more than just a celebration of their Venice debut. It was also an event to mark the 10th anniversary of India’s recognition of transgender individuals, a defining moment that allowed these trans artists and their community to start to feel a little less foreign in their own country. “If this edition’s theme, ‘Foreigners Everywhere,’ means being in different cultures and territories where you do not belong, this applies to us too” Bai, one of the lead artists from the Bangalore-based art collective Aravani Art Project, said in an interview during early hours of Tuesday’s pre-opening of the main exhibition of the 60th Venice Biennale curated by Adriano Pedrosa. “We did not feel belong[ing] to the bodies that we were born into. People in our own country see us coming from another country, another culture. We are foreigners.”
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A major moment for the growing Indian art market

Source Artsy by Hilary Joo
Taking place at the beginning of February, India Art Fair was an all-around success. The fair scaled up its number of exhibitors to more than 100, and galleries reported strong sales from a combination of Indian and international collectors, especially those from Southeast Asia. The momentum of the Indian art market is increasingly drawing international attention. “The Indian economy is growing rapidly along with our population. There is an acute appreciation for visual aesthetics and a tremendous growth in disposable income as the country becomes more self-sustaining,” said Prateek Raja, the director of tastemaking Kolkata gallery Experimenter. “The large educated middle class, who’s interested in culture and art, is growing as well. Ten years ago, most people bought artworks only to decorate, but now people buy artworks to get something meaningful and to capture the moment.”
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9 art shows to check out right now in Mumbai

Source Condé Nast Traveller by Prachi Joshi
Mumbai’s art galleries and museums are buzzing with a slew of fresh and ongoing exhibitions, whether it’s a global street art icon’s first solo in India or a retrospective of a venerable Indian painter. Here’s our selection of shows you shouldn’t miss.
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BARBICAN ANNOUNCES FIRST MAJOR SURVEY OF PIONEERING INDIAN ART 1975-1998

Source FAD Magazine by Mark Westall
In the autumn of 2024, the Barbican will present The Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975-1998, the world’s first major exhibition of Indian art to explore and chart a period of significant cultural and political change in the country. Organised in partnership with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, this significant group show will feature over 25 artists and nearly 150 works from across a range of media, including many that will be shown in the UK for the first time. Participating artists include Jyoti Bhatt, Rameshwar Broota, Sheba Chhachhi, Sheela Gowda, Rummana Hussain, Bhupen Khakhar, Nalini Malani, Meera Mukherjee, Madhvi Parekh, Navjot, Gieve Patel, Sudhir Patwardhan, Himmat Shah, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Nilima Sheikh, Arpita Singh, Vivan Sundaram, J. Swaminathan, Jangarh Singh Shyam, Savi Sawarkar, N.N. Rimzon and more.The Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975-1998 will be accompanied by an integral film programme in Barbican Cinemas which will respond to the themes of the exhibition. This collaboration with Barbican Cinema reinforces the Centre’s commitment to cross-disciplinary programming.
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The Pilgrimage of Tarshito

Source The New Indian Express by Alexander Sebastian
For Italian artist Tarshito, art is largely, if not entirely, a spiritual affair. At the inauguration of his ongoing exhibition at the National Crafts Museum in Delhi titled ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, the 72-year-old says his artistic practice is inspired by “the magical part of life. It comes from the energy of the sky”. The eponymous concept of all of humanity being one big family has also been the guiding force for his creativity over the years. With works done in collaboration with around 25 traditional artists from across the country, in various styles of art ­— from Gond and Warli to the mural art of Kerala— blended with Tarshito’s own imagination, the exhibition is a celebration of the power of art in bringing together varied cultures and communities.
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Raza reigns supreme, Souza sets record at New York auctions

Source Bizz Buzz
The last of the big auctions of Indian art in the first season of this year are now over and have left us with some whopping records. At the three sales of modern and contemporary South Asian art held by Sotheby’s (two) and Christie’s (one) in New York this past week, most of the canvases sold for way above their pre-auction estimates, setting records for some artists and pushing the envelope for quite a few others.
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Rooshad Shroff’s signature furniture line is now canvas to T Venkanna’s provocative art

Source Architectural Digest by Arshia Dhar
“We wanted to take something that people have seen before in terms of shape and form,” Shroff says, explaining why a pre-existing collection of furniture was chosen for the project, to which the artist responded with his unique idiom. Shroff adds, “For example, with the coffee table, we wanted Venkanna to do something with the act of drinking and the pleasure one seeks from it, which he then depicted in the ways he does, where the subject matter—if one is not familiar with his work— might even be considered vulgar." Conceptually, the imagery in the series reiterates the significance of the body as a motif and as a symbol of social commentary, exploring the boundaries of mores, by often performing for an external gaze. The artwork, therefore, challenges notions not only of belonging, control and access, but also of censorship, shame and privacy.
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Sheher, Prakriti, Devi Ishara Art Foundation

Source Ocula
Recently awarded the 10th Prix Pictet for global photography and sustainability, New Delhi-based artist and photographer Gauri Gill presents her first curatorial project, titled after the Hindustani terms for city, nature, and deity at the Ishara Art Foundation. The exhibition follows Gill's documentation of India's rural and urban spaces since 2003. 'Rememory' imagines cities as spaces shaped by 'multiple life-worlds': a concrete rod sinks into marshland in one image; in another, a gate opens onto an incomplete road.
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6 Standout Works at the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale

Source Artsy by Reena Devi
Often, art events in Saudi Arabia show a predilection for the bright and shiny. The second edition of Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, the nation’s major biennale, however, was no such show. Launched with expansive international ambitions, the exhibition showed a geographically diverse range of artists from the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Organized by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation and led by artistic director Ute Meta Bauer, the second edition of the biennial opened on February 20th and runs through May 24th.
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Nikhil Chopra’s 'Line of Fire' at Chatterjee & Lal layers contemporary anxieties

Source Stir World by Manu Sharma
Chopra also enthralled audiences in his live performance at 47-A, donning a metallic costume and drawing landscapes on the gallery’s glass facade. The performance saw the Indian artist develop his work while a soundscape filled the space with natural and unnatural sounds. Winds gushed and birds chirped and were intermittently interrupted by gunshots and the screech of aeroplanes. As was the case with Chopra’s paintings, the sense of discomfort grew gradually at 47-A. The artist’s instrument of choice—lipstick—typically contains heavy metals such as aluminium, cadmium and chromium which can be quite toxic if they enter the body. Chopra’s decision to use lipstick instead of his usual charcoal or pastel was taken to comment on the historical buildup of “toxic histories and ecological contamination” across the earth’s natural environments, as curator and writer Mario D’Souza writes in a press release. The durational performance, along with the larger exhibition it is a part of, provided audiences with cause to reassess our relationship with the planet, and to ponder the extent of toxicity, both literal and metaphorical, that it now carries.
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12 new art shows in India to add to your March 2024 calendar

Source Vogue India by Huzan Tata
March’s roster of new art shows in India incidentally opens with the international fest Art Dubai, where Indian galleries like Experimenter and Latitude 28 are participating, so head to Madinat Jumeirah if you happen to be in the desert city till 3rd March. Closer to home, Srila Chatterjee of Baro Market is curating the annual showcase of the Affordable Art Show from 1st-3rd March at Method Juhu, featuring over 15 artists from across India, while Ahmedabad’s 079 | Stories gallery is showcasing artist Vipul Prajapati’s solo show of paintings and installations. Here’s our pick of what you should definitely catch at galleries this month.
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