Hunting the Moon: Mahlaqa Bai and the Visuality of Absence
by Gunjan
A study of two 18th-century paintings from Hyderabad throw up new questions around the figure of the famed courtesan and her associations with celestial imagery and power.

Chandrashala: The Moon Motif in Indian Architecture
by Swapna Joshi
A look at the origins and evolution of this ornamental form, which serves structural and symbolic functions, across rock-cut caves, temples and colonial buildings.

The Moon in Two Illustrated Indian Manuscripts
by Arundhati Bhan and Radhika Sharma
The moon becomes a symbol of romance, beauty and divinity in the paintings of Mulla Da’ud’s Chandayan and Bihari Lal’s Satsai.

Moonlight Empire: Lunar Imagery in Mughal India
by Yael Rice
An essay exploring the significance of the moon as a symbol of sovereignty, divine light and cosmic authority in the arts of the Mughal empire.

Sensory Ethnography and the Grounded Aesthetics of Begum Bazaar
by Sujith Kumar Parayil
An unpacking of the sights, sounds and smells of Hyderabad’s Begum Bazaar reveals a reappropriation of the past in the context of capitalist market logic.

Dwelling in a Market Place: The Chauta Bazaar of Surat
by Sadan Jha
A close look at the aesthetics, spatial dynamics and economics of the shopping experience at this bazaar, which traces its roots to the 16th and 17th centuries, and remains a thriving women's market.

More than just a Bazaar: Delhi’s Multi-layered Chandni Chowk
by Jyoti Pandey Sharma
Tracing the history and evolution of Chandni Chowk from the 17th century to present times, this essay looks at the Mughal, British and postcolonial influences that have shaped its architecture and vibrant urban character.

Identifying the History of Walled City Bazaars of Lahore
by Mohammad Ali
This essay focuses on the different trades and small markets that function within the walled city of Lahore, built and adapted through Mughal and colonial interventions, and the challenges faced after Partition and in present times.

Foreclosing the Encounter: Trump, Tariffs and (Cinematic) Traffic
by Sachin Sharma
A proposed tariff to be levied on films exported to America may hurt Hollywood in the long run, given that its influence and success depend on engagement with other countries like India.

Nandita and Shiboprosad: Bengali Cinema’s New Auteur Duo
by Smita Banerjee
Their signature style built across diverse themes allows the duo to carve out a unique space of collaborative filmmaking within the Bengali film industry.

Throwing New Light on Muslim Lives: The Legacy of Shama Zaidi
by Critical Collective
Among the few women writers who worked in Bombay cinema from the 1970s to the 1990s, Zaidi’s screenplays and costume design played a key role in shaping Muslim identity in films like Garam Hawa, Shatranj ke Khilari, Umrao Jaan and Mammo.

Finding Women’s Voices in a No-(Wo)Man’s-Land: Bina Paul’s Cinefeminism
by Bindu Menon Mannil
Paul’s pioneering work as a filmmaker and institution-builder in Kerala has resulted in positive shifts towards gender equality and feminist assertion within male-defined cinematic practices.

Shaji N. Karun (1952-2025): Pioneer of a New Visual Language in Malayalam Cinema
by V.K. Cherian
With his exemplary visual imagination and sharp technical skills, Shaji Karun carved a space for cinematography as art in Malayalam cinema and ushered in a new visual idiom that influenced a generation of filmmakers.

Sanya Malhotra Reinvents the Role of the Married Woman in Hindi Cinema
by Aysha Viswamohan
Malhotra’s performances in Meenakshi Sundareshwar, Pagglait and Mrs., as a wife and daughter-in-law who asserts her agency, represent a questioning of gendered social norms and a championing of female subjectivity.

Holding a Mirror to the Human Condition
by Mrinalini Vasudevan in conversation with Nishtha Jain
The multi-award-winning filmmaker reflects on her approach to documentaries, the political themes that appeal to her interest in the ‘human condition,’ and the larger challenges that define the medium today.

We Are Faheem & Karun: Onir’s Mature Interfaith Queer Tale
by Anugyan Nag
The filmmaker’s latest offering is not just a story of same-sex desire, but an intricate tapestry of intersectional identities, communal tensions and reimagined masculinity, set against the politically fraught backdrop of Kashmir.

Atul Dodiya’s Homage to the Golden Years of Hindi Cinema Music
by Anindo Sen
In Radio Ceylon Paintings: Vol. I, the artist retraces his love for older Hindi cinema through portraits of yesteryear poet-lyricists and singers, with frozen scenes from song sequences in movies.

Jagdish Ji: The Inner Eye
by Jyotindra Jain
Remembering the renowned Indian art collector, Jagdish Mittal (September 16, 1925 - January 7, 2025), whose works are preserved at the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum in Hyderabad.

The Art of Zainul Abedin
by Richard Wilson
An archival essay highlighting the oeuvre of Zainul Abedin, known for his contribution to early Indian modernism portraying the sociopolitical turmoil of the 1943 Bengal famine and the Partition.

And Everything In Between: The Second Islamic Arts Biennale
by Gayatri Sinha
In the midst of a broader regional instability, the biennale signals faith and hope with the finest achievements in Islamic art.

Mithu Sen on I Am Ol Chiki
by Mrinalini Vasudevan
The artist discusses her latest public art project, created for the Bengal Biennale Santiniketan edition, that aims to revive Santali language, script and culture.

Reconfiguring the Human Visage
by Arundhati Bhan
Curated by Yashodhara Dalmia, Gallery Threshold’s multi-artist exhibition, ‘Trans-formative Vision’, navigates the landscape of figurative art across artistic, social and cultural histories.

George K in Conversation with Ravinder Reddy

George K. discusses his Aravani series, on display at the 2024-2025 Bangkok Art Biennale, and his broader practice that engages with alternative gender and sexuality.

The Consensual Hallucination of L.N. Tallur
by Shankar Tripathi
In Tallur’s solo exhibition, Neti-Neti, data is transformed into a colour-coded landscape of bronze and metallic forms, and the glitch that ruptures through traditional figures becomes the new code.

Delhi's Sunken Museum
by Arundhati Bhan
The less-than-a-year-old Humayun's Tomb Museum sets new standards for the site-specific museum in India, attracting visitors with its tactile displays and audio-visual evocations of the local surroundings and Mughal history.

Museumizing a Faith: In Conversation with Kevin Fernandes and Natasha Fernandes
by Mrinalini Vasudevan
Through a discussion of the history and the curation of specific objects at the Museum of Christian Art, Goa, Kevin and Natasha provide insights into the strengths and limitations of this institution.

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.

And/Or/Both: Kaiwan Mehta's World, But No Home
by Rohan Shivkumar
Mehta turns to the shifting spaces of urban neighbourhoods, bringing together a variety of artworks that engage with the interplay between private and public lives and habits.

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.

Arriving at The Object Craftsperson and Seamster
by Paula Sengupta
Partha Pratim Deb’s career as an artist and educator from the late 1960s was defined by an interdependent relationship between his practice and academics, evident in his experimental approach and diverse choice of media.

Towards Cutting Edge Art: Definitive Attempts
by Pushpamala N
Drawing from sociopolitical changes and a shift from traditional forms of expression, the artist reflects on her oeuvre against the backdrop of ‘cutting edge’ practices among Indian artists in the 1990s.

Himmat Shah: Sculpting Civilisational Connections
by Gayatri Sinha
This tribute to the renowned Indian artist (1933-2025) reflects on how his sculpted heads imbued with the unity of human experience, have been conferred with a lasting grandeur.

Devraj Dakoji: The Master Printer
by Lina Vincent
A new retrospective show, Signed, Lower Right: Devraj Dakoji, traces the artist’s training in and experiments with printmaking over the last five decades.

Remembering Latika Katt (1948-2025)
by Gayatri Sinha
A tribute to the feisty Indian female sculptor, well-known for her contextual works, which turned to nature and sites like Varanasi to contemplate life, death and rebirth.

Freeing the Mind
by Avantika Bhuyan
Praneet Soi’s Hold Still is imbued with a lyrical quality and dotted by recurring motifs that transfigure, fragment, and deconstruct the original form. A key aspect of his practice, it is rooted in his experiences in the tumultuous United States of the late ’90s and early ’00s

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.

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.

Twilight Stars Shining Bright
by Ratnottama Sengupta
The last few months have seen Aparna Sen, Sharmila Tagore and Rakhee Gulzar return to the Bengali screen in roles that prioritize their strong, layered performances over youthful glamour.

Are You My Sister: Art and Fundraising for Feminist Solidarity
by Anindo Sen
Sister Library’s recent exhibition brought together the works of 27 women artists, illustrating various aspects and challenges surrounding gendered identity in the Indian context.

Mumtaz Begum: A Courtesan Who Challenged the Court
by Sachin Sharma
The story of Mumtaz Begum, mistress of Tukoji Rao Holkar, who later became the subject of an infamous legal case and film, reveals the difficult negotiations brokered by women in cinema in early 20th-century India between competing political forces.

Clothes that Make an Indian Female Politician
by Kamayani Sharma
Indian women political leaders use the short haircut and glamorous power sari to enfashion identities that complicate patriarchal and caste mores around femininity.

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.

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)

Being Alive: Anthropological Enquiries into Art
by Arundhati Bhan
Iram Art's group exhibition explores broad themes of cultural hybridity and relativism, indigenous perspectives and ecological degradation.

Review: The Shape of the Wind is a Tree
by Radhika Tulsian
This FICA exhibition, in collaboration with Royal Enfield, brought together artists and communities from the eastern and western Himalayas, preserving indigenous traditions and identities.

The Bengal Biennale Debut in Santiniketan
by Soumik Nandy Majumdar
A look at the highlights from the inaugural edition of the Biennale and the new arts spaces it has opened up, beyond Kala Bhavana, in Tagore’s campus town.

Photographic Archives and Forced Migration
by Rituparna Roy
Dayanita Singh’s Museum of Tanpura, Paula Sengupta and Sujoy Das’s Into Exile: The Tibetan Predicament and Pradip Das’s Hridaypur engage with archives of memories and historical loss.

Indian Democracy under Scrutiny
by Virginia Whiles
A review of the Barbican’s exhibition, The Imaginary Institution of India: Art 1975-1998, which features 30 artists’ responses to the postcolonial nation-state’s failed promises of democracy.

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.

Its Time is Now: Review of Geeta Kapur’s Speech Acts
by Parul Dave Mukherji
Placed in the context of current national and global cultural politics and contemporary art theory, Kapur’s latest book foregrounds her renewed engagement with the category of the avant-garde from the position of the Global South.

UNderstanding Mithu
by Meera Menezes
A new monograph on Mithu Sen offers insights into her artistic journey but also highlights the impossibility of pigeonholing her practice.

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.

Ismat Chughtai’s Lihaaf, through Bhasha Chakrabarti’s Gaze
by Neerja Deodhar
Chakrabarti’s latest show, Karvat, brings together her long fascination with the iconic Urdu story about queer desire, and her own engagement with cloth and lovers in domestic settings.

Where Durga Masquerades as Empress Victoria
by Tapati Guha-Thakurta
In a perceptive reading of a 2024 puja pandal, Tapati Guha-Thakurta provides a close study of the colonial and postcolonial statuary against the changing socio-political milieu of Kolkata.

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.