Begum Samru’s Sardhana Church: Navigating Piety and Patronage in Colonial India
by Jyoti Pandey Sharma

Do Sonic Communities Perform Heritage?
by Sebanti Chatterjee

When Mariamman becomes Mary
by Arundhati Bhan

F.N. Souza - An Eclectic in Indian Art
by S.K. Bhattacharya

Botanical Symbolism in Pahari Painting
by Sarang Sharma

Wish Fulfilment and Blooming Trails: Visuals of Flora in Early India
by Sneha Ganguly

Braided Botanies
by Projit Bihari Mukharji

“Red Lilies” : A Newly Discovered Mansur
by N.C.Mehta

Nargis: A Daughter of India before Mother India?
by Aarti Wani
The different roles that Nargis played, as a daughter and romantic lead, in films of the 1940s and ’50s, reveal a negotiation of female agency, independence and social transgressions within patriarchal frameworks and the anxieties felt around the rise of the ‘modern’ woman.

Making a Universe: Notes on Bollywood’s Franchise Model
by Swati Bandi
Held together by managerial frameworks, narrative mathematics, platform economies and star texts, the recent spate of franchise filmmaking in Bollywood has created a curious ecosystem, which reflects changes in contemporary media culture.

The Mithun Phenomenon in Indian Cinema: Perspectives from Films, Politics and Beyond
by Spandan Bhattacharya
From his popularity as a youth icon, action hero and a goon-cum-people’s saviour, Mithun’s onscreen roles along with his forays into business, activism and reality shows, has created a persona that rests on an unusual plurality of visibilities and media texts.

The Comic Heroes of Kader Khan’s World
by Sachin Sharma
As an alternative to the Angry Young Man films, Khan created characters who used humour and absurdity to address contemporary social issues, and crafted a different kind of stardom from the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda.

Homelands in Crisis: Reviews from the MAMI 2024 South Asian Selection
by Prakhar Patidar
Bhutan’s Agent of Happiness, Nepal’s Pooja, Sir and Bhutan’s Comrade Poopy unravel ordinary people’s search for love, truth and freedom amidst insurgency, ethnic clashes, and governmental control over individual and collective identities.

The Curious Case of the Missing Hindi Film Comedian
by Sreya Mitra
The comic sidekick, once a staple of popular cinema and the forte of stars like Johnny Walker, Mehmood, Asrani and Johnny Lever, has been phased out in favour of heroes who have mastered all emotions and tropes within masala films.

It Takes a Village To Make a Film: In Conversation with Rima Das
by Critical Collective
Tracing the award-winning Assamese filmmaker’s journey from her self-taught, shoe-string budget, home-bound brand of independent filmmaking to becoming a consistent festival darling, Critical Collective speaks to Rima Das as her films Village Rockstars 2 (2024) and My Melbourne (2024)

A Small Man with Tall Strides
by Sayandeb Chowdhury
A close study of the legendary Bengali actor Rabi Ghosh's contributions to theatre and films (especially those of Tapan Sinha and Satyajit Ray) reveals how he was much more than just a comedian.

Who Planned the Taj?
by Rev. H. Hosten, S.J.
The writer investigates the planning of the Taj Mahal and considers historical evidence to deduce whether this visual marvel had French or Venetian design origins.

Gandhiji on Art
by Nirmal Kumar Bose
This archival piece revisits an interaction between Nandalal Bose and Mahatma Gandhi to reflect on Gandhi’s meticulous understanding of art, beauty and the role of creative interventions in making meaning in life.

Bharti Kher’s Alchemies at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park
by Manmeet K. Walia
Bharti Kher’s major solo exhibition, engaging with identity, materiality and the evolving role of sculpture in contemporary art, stands tall in the midst of racial turmoil in the United Kingdom.

“Women Can’t Carry Easels”
by Arundhati Bhan
The ongoing exhibition, Of Spaces of Their Own, at Akar Prakar, New Delhi, braids together the modernist legacies of a range of 20th-century women artists in post-independence India.

Curating Nalini Malani: The Fragility of Time
by Radhika Sharma
Puja Vaish discusses unseen works from Nalini Malani’s early oeuvre in the 1960s and ’70s, revealing interdisciplinary experiments and socio-political engagements that carry contemporary resonances.

Joya Mukerjee Logue: Luminous Recall
by Gayatri Sinha
The artist’s first exhibition in India is both a memorial and a tribute to her family home and childhood days in Ambala.

Have Our Public Institutions Aided Open Discourse around the Visual Arts?
by Critical Collective
In a second edition, reputed Indian gallerists speak of a non-Eurocentric, South Asian model for art practices, and the extent to which the Indian market and institutions support the arts ecosystem.

Intertwined Journeys: Handprints of Gulammohammed Sheikh
by Ravikumar Kashi
The first half of a two-part retrospective at Gallery Sumukha explores the many phases of Sheikh’s experiments with printmaking and its ties with his painting practice.

New Kid on the Block: Mumbai’s Museum of Solutions
by Neerja Deodhar
The institution widens the scope of a children’s museum, celebrating modes of learning that find limited space in traditional schooling, and viewing children as agents of change, capable of confronting social and ecological issues.

Museum Making in India Today: Conversation with Eka Resources
by Namrata Ghosh
New and upcoming museums in the country reveal how they incorporate Indian design practices and build on collaborations between local and foreign firms.

Kolkata Police Museum
by Namrata Ghosh
Tracing police history from the colonial to the early 2000s, the museum provides a glimpse into the formation, evolution and functioning of the city police while raising questions about the politics of representing institutional histories.

Interrogating India’s First Museum Biennale at the Bihar Museum
by Namrata Ghosh
The article raises important questions about the use of the word ‘biennale’ while examining the impressive museum the event is located in.

Representing a History of Violence: The Partition Museum in Delhi
by Umara Zainab
The recently inaugurated museum highlights Delhi’s experience of violence and displacement in the wake of the 1947 Partition.

A House for Mr Roy
by Mrinalini Vasudevan
DAG’s recent acquisition of and plans for the Jamini Roy House in Kolkata gives hope for a new model of museum-making in India.

Praying at the Museum: The Ancestral Home of Swami Vivekananda
by Namrata Ghosh
On the eve of Swami Vivekanand’s death anniversary, the author visits his house-museum, which also serves as a place for worship.

The South Asia Gallery at the Manchester Museum
by Virginia Whiles
This gallery becomes the first permanent space in the UK to celebrate subcontinental art history and the culture of the South Asian diaspora.

Thresholds of Becoming: 16 Artists Try To Step Across
by Sandhya Bordewekar
A recent exhibition at Ahmedabad's Conflictorium Museum delves into the various 'thresholds' that mark artistic practice, urban history and memories of home.

Nation as Exhibit: The Long Shadow of T.N. Mukharji
by Gayatri Sinha
Remembering T N Mukharji, the first Indian curator at an art institution, known for his internationally mounted exhibitions in the 1880s.

Artists and the Weather Station
by Namrata Ghosh and Radhika Sharma
28° North and Parallel Weathers brings together art, science and digital intervention in tracking weather changes in regions along latitude 28° North.

In Search of New Horizons: Muhanned Cader's Island in the Sky
by Mrinalini Vasudevan
The landscapes captured in the Sri Lankan artist's first solo exhibition in India become metaphors for themes of home, belonging, exile and multicultural identities.

Revisiting Another Master: Ram Singh Urveti
by Umara Zainab
The myths and legends of the Gond community have found new life in the painterly canvas of Urveti over the last three decades.

When Artists Reimagined ‘The Waste Land’
by Radhika Sharma
Art Heritage’s exhibition revisits T. S. Eliot’s classic, Reimagining The Waste Land, through the works of five contemporary Indian artists.

Crisis in the Critical Zone
by Namrata Ghosh
This travelling exhibition seeks to draw attention to the ever-growing challenge of climate change by focusing on the fragile environment of the critical zone that sustains all life on Earth.

Form and Ritual: Arti Kadam’s Sculptural Exploration of Everyday Grace
by Deeksha Nath
The artist’s inaugural solo exhibition, House of Objects, reveals her ability to transformutilitarian objects and tasks into meditative, ritualistic tools and practices.

Home as a Studio
by Sudhir Patwardhan
In his engagement with the notion of the family, spatial connotations of home and its relation with the cityscape, Patwardhan deliberates upon the causes that spurred him to shift his focus from the street to domestic interiors.

The Acumenical Pursuits of Mr. L.N. Tallur
by Peter Nagy
This is an in-depth survey of the style of L.N. Tallur, known for visualizing the convergence of the traditional and the contemporary in diverse forms, while addressing the gap between art and craft in his practice.

In the Forests of the Night
by Jesal Thacker
Tara Sabharwal’s mnemonic works bridge the conscious and the unconscious worlds, while their textural patterns and splurges of colour explore the idea of creation through the lens of the ‘wild’ and the ‘sublime’.

Three Narratives of Displacement
by Gayatri Sinha
A 2007 show of Chittrovanu Mazumdar’s works at 1x1 Art Gallery emphasizes how his practice addresses displacement through an informed hybrid perspective of personal, cultural, and social contexts.

Cracks in the Wall
by Adwait Singh
Ayesha Singh explores intercultural exchange in the pre-globalization world, while drawing attention to the vulnerability and transience of built architecture.

Baaraan Ijlal: Hostile Witness
by Gayatri Sinha
Baaraan Ijlal studies her chosen site as a witness to history and situates it within the context of demolition and repurposing that has gripped Indian cities and their built heritage.

Trough Traces: Arunkumars’ Arbitration on the Transforming Ecosophy of Food
by Anshuman Dasgupta
TRACT explores the interactions between food and ecology through various mediums and motifs.

Caryatid - A View Point
by Chaitanya Sambrani
Shakuntala's caryatids are supporters of the structure of society, which engage in a series of actions and gestures related to ideas of carrying, connecting and balancing.

Drifting Threads: Cholamandal Artists’ Village over fifty years
by Ashrafi S Bhagat
Ashrafi Bhagat traces the past, present and future of the Cholamandal Artists' Village in Chennai.

How to Feel a Leak?
by CAMP
CAMP elaborates on their work, THE RADIA TAP(E)S as part of The Ungovernables, New Museum, New York Triennial (2012).

CONA: Points of Reflection
by Hemali Bhuta
Hemali Bhuta on the founding of CONA as a pedagogical structure for artists.

New Group: In conversation with Amitava Das and Mona Rai at New Delhi, April 23, 2014

Amitava Das and Mona talk about the formation of the New Group in 1974.

The Calcutta Group - Its Aims and Achievements
by Prodosh Das Gupta
Prodosh Das Gupta highlights the premise of founding the Calcutta Group in 1940.

Indian Society of Oriental Art
by James H. Cousins

Society of Contemporary Artists, Kolkata, 1960

Calcutta Group, 1943

A Conversation on Caste, Labour and Art with Vikrant Bhise
by Critical Collective
The young Bombay-based artist discusses his engagement with Ambedkar’s teachings and the stories of the Dalit community depicted in his paintings.

Architectures of Momentum: In Conversation with Rameshwar Broota
by Critical Collective
The artist’s oeuvre has been a long-standing testament to how he addresses the passage of time in defined forms and abstractions.

On 1Shanthiroad: In Conversation with Suresh Jayaram
by Mallika Visvanathan
As 1Shanthiroad Studio and Gallery completes 20 years, Suresh Jayaram speaks about the nature of the space and its future in a post-pandemic world.

Conversation with Gigi Scaria
by Sohorpem Kazingmei
The artist highlights the centrality of city landscapes in his work, while speaking of his experiments with printmaking as part of his artistic process.

On Nature and Abstraction: An Interview with Ganesh Haloi
by Namrata Ghosh
The artist talks about how his early life and experiences greatly influenced his practice.

how many songs from a single note?
by Shaunak Mahbubani
Shaunak Mahbubani interviews artist, Rah Naqvi about her recently closed exhibition, how many songs from a single note?

Today is Better than Yesterday: In Conversation with Surekha
by Mallika Visvanathan
Surekha speaks about her recent works displayed at 1Shanthiroad, Bengaluru, made in response to the feelings of stagnation and loss which characterized the first waves of Covid-19.

Pieces of Home: In conversation with Tanmoy Samanta

The artist discusses his latest series of works created in the midst of the pandemic, which reconsider the ideas of home and earthly existence, using pigment, rice paper and shape-shifting collages.

Between Freedom and Confinement
by Arundhati Bhan
Unseen Shadows, a new exhibition by Richa Arya and Deena Pindoria, delves into narratives of resilience, the limitations of materiality, socio-political erasure, and the undervaluation of women's work.

Queering Frames: In Conversation with Debalina Majumder
by Upasana Das
Majumder opens up about her engagements with the queer community in Bengal and beyond through her photography and films, focusing on contemporary debates around decriminalizing homosexuality and legalizing same-sex marriage in India.

Fluid Bodies, Plastic Trends: Beauty in the Age of Instagram
by Avilasha Ghosh
The ‘fashion beauty complex’ continues to regulate women’s bodies and beauty under the garb of new discourses around self-care, health and body positivity on social media.

Rituparno Ghosh and the Queer Folks of Bengal
by Kaustav Bakshi
A look at how the late Bengali filmmaker emerged as a queer icon by making public a precarious, marginal, dispossessed life.

Conversation with the Aravani Art Project
by Critical Collective
On the use of collaborative public art projects, especially murals, to empower the trans community across small and big cities in India.

Afrah Shafiq and the Art of Play
by Mrinalini Vasudevan
Shafiq, who works at the intersections of technology and art, opens up about the women who have inspired and found their way into her stories.

Minto and the Begums of Oudh
by Shilendra K. Singh
On the role of Bahu Begum, the widow of Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula, and Bhabi Begum, the widow of Nawab Wazir Asaf-ud-Daula, in the Anglo-Oudh political relationship of the 19th century.

Reading Silenced Identities Through Visual Archives: Indian Travelling Ayahs in Service of the British Empire
by Arunima Datta
On the ayahs (Indian maidservants) employed by elite Indian and European families.

Anandavardhana's Treatment of Aprastutaprasamsa
by P. K. Narayana Pillai
The essay discusses the degree of novelty in Anandavardhana’s theory of dhvani, and the rhetorician’s opinions regarding the contributions of his successors towards the theorization of dhvani. (1957)

A Critical Survey of the Ancient Indian Theatre Accordance with the Bharata Natyasastha and its Commentators
by Subba Rao
Construction of ancient Indian theatre, as propounded in Bharata's Natyashastra is interpreted in an objective manner by comparing the theoretical with the practical aspects. (1953)

An Outline of Indian Aesthetics
by Nagendra
On the various speculations pertaining to the nature of Beauty in the Indian context and the contribution of Indian poetics and philosophy in its formulation. (1934)

The Dynamism of the Indian Concept of Rasa
by K S Ramaswamy Shastri
On the concept and origin of Rasa in Indian aesthetics and the development of its elements. (1935)

Some Modern Critics and Ancient Texts on the Aesthetic Value of Hindu Images
by N.V. Mallavya
On the aesthetic and iconographical aspects of ancient Indian sculpture as outlined in the Agamas and Shastras. (1942)

Anandavardhana’s Treatment of Pratibha in Relation to Dhvani
by K. Krishnamoorthy
On the concept of Pratibha or creative imagination brought about by the agency of Dhvani. (1950)

Peculiarities in the Alamkara-Section of the Agni-Purana
by Suresh Mohan Bhattacharya
On the unique modes of treatment accorded to Alamkara and its constituent elements in the Agni Purana. (1960)

Studies in Dhvanyaloka, the Adivakya in Dhvanyaloka
by V.A. Ramaswami Sastri
On the importance of dhvani in communicating the essence of emotion inherent in poetry and drama. (1955)

Entangled Pasts, 1768-Now: Art, Colonialism and Change
by Deeksha Nath
A recent exhibition at London’s Royal Academy explores the legacies of Britain’s imperial past, and the role art played in shaping narratives of empire, enslavement and resistance.

Memory Fields in the Art of the Global South: A Review
by Gayatri Sinha
Andreas Huyssen's deeply perceptive reading of key artists creates a transnational view of the recollection of trauma and its invocation in contemporary art.

Parvez's performative gestures:The subversion of the capitalist art economy
by Deeksha Nath
The author writes on performance and lens based artist Parvez’s seven month long project in Switzerland questioning the presumptions around audience interaction and the sites of art presentation.

Restless Creations: Adeela Suleman's Art for Social Change
by Virginia Whiles
Virginia Whiles speaks with sculptor Adeela Suleman on her use of found objects and dark humour in her work, as a way of exploring social and ecological violence, tragedy and censorship in Pakistan. (2021)

Positionings
by Salima Hashmi
With Bani Abidi's nomination for the Böttcherstraße prize, Salima Hashmi writes on a generation of Pakistani women artists' work "as a site for mutinous content and personal empowerment.” (2020)

TANTRA: Enlightenment to Revolution
by Virginia Whiles
The author reviews the ongoing exhibition at the British Museum through a ‘socially distanced’ critique, following online talks and exchanges with colleagues. (2020)

Contesting and coalescing voices from Dhaka Art Summit
by Mustafa Zaman
In its 5th edition, DAS invited the voices of different communities, giving them a chance to articulate in their own terms, the legacies of colonial/postcolonial modernity. (2020)

Lahore Biennale: ‘between the sun and the moon’
by Virginia Whiles
The second Lahore Biennale stages a polyphony of artistic voices weighing in on the shared cultural and political history of South Asia and the Middle East. (2020)

Book Review: Photographing Indian Monuments, 1855-1920
by Arundhati Bhan
Sudeshna Guha’s edited accompaniment to the DAG show of the same name looks at the role photography played in reinforcing and challenging colonial documentation of Indian heritage.

Book Review: The Right to Look
by Sachin Sharma
The book explores the multifaceted nature of Indian photography through a structured examination of how the medium interacts with the body, identity and perception.

Book Review: Photo-Attractions
by Malavika Karlekar
Ajay J. Sinha’s latest book unearths the performance-based collaboration between Indian dancer Ram Gopal and American photographer, Carl Van Vechten.

Book Review: History of Urban Form of India
by Sandhya Bordewekar
Pratyush Shankar's book looks at indigenous models of urban planning that emerged in response to local geographic, historical and socio-economic orientations.

Doing History at a Slant: Remembering the Kasauli Art Centre
by Arushi Vats
A review of Belinder Dhanoa’s Kasauli Art Centre (1976-1991)

Book Review: Postnational Perceptions in Contemporary Art Practice
by Kamayani Sharma
Bindu Bhadana examines the art of Chitra Ganesh, Tejal Shah and Nikhil Chopra.

Review of The Planetary King: Humayun Padshah
by Umara Zainab
Ebba Koch's new work provides a holistic picture of the oft-maligned Mughal emperor, Humayun, through a study of his interest, beliefs, ideology and cultural contributions.

Pushpamala N. and "the Artistic Ways of Viewing the Sacred"
by Annapurna Garimella
The book is a collection of articles reflecting on Pushpamala N.’s reimagination of popular images within the framework of nationalism and motherhood.

Sahmat: Moments in Collapse
by Umara Zainab
The exhibition is an urgent intervention for critical thought, an exercise in remembering and creating a distinct point and space to force us to imagine a different future.

Karbala and Other Symbols-M.F. Husain
by Gayatri Sinha
Husain's Karbala, bearing its message of persecution and painted during the Gulf War returns with extraordinary prescience, in its staging at the Venice biennale.

Imagining Liminality: The Flux at India’s Cultural Thresholds
by Neerja Deodhar
The unsaid and the hidden-across architecture, history and time-assume centre stage at an exhibition hosted by Mumbai’s Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre.

Lipstick Stories: ‘Middle-Class’ India Gazes at Itself
by Neerja Deodhar
Roshan Chhabria’s latest solo show employs observational humour and a kitschy style toreflect on the common man’s aspirations and insecurities.

A Centenary Tribute to K.G. Subramanyan
by Vasudha Chatterjee
Remembering one of 20th-century India's most prolific and prominent modernists, who was a renowned artist, writer, teacher and institution builder.

Ameen Sayani (1932-2024): The South Asian Radio Star
by Vebhuti Duggal
The essay looks back at Ameen Sayani's stardom in light of his passing, and about the legacies of his flagship programme, Binaca Geetmala.

Review of Common Ground: Where Our Truths Meet
by Namrata Ghosh
The second edition of the Indian Ceramics Triennale brings together artists from 12 countries that engage with landscape, identity, history and culture.

Conversations with Three Contemporary South Asian Women Artists
by Namrata Ghosh and Radhika Sharma
Anoli Perera (from Sri Lanka), Bushra Waqas Khan (from Pakistan), and Pooja Duwal (from Nepal) reflect on their practice.