Sharjah Revisited: The Soft State amidst the Hard Edges of the Middle East
Gayatri SinhaThe second edition of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial is remarkable for its reuse of built space to address some of the urgent questions that beset the Global South.

27 Nov 2023 | Review

In Conversation with Sheikha Hoor
Gayatri SinhaSheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, patron of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, speaks about the shifting priorities in the UAE’s contemporary art sphere.

27 Nov 2023 | Interview

Tributes to Gieve Patel (1940-2023)
Nilima Sheikh, Sudhir Patwardhan, Anju Dodiya and Aditi SinghNilima Sheikh, Sudhir Patwardhan, Anju Dodiya and Aditi Singh share memories of their friendship with the well-known Bombay poet-painter, and throw light on the rich legacy he leaves behind.

27 Nov 2023 | Essay

Brunei Gallery and Mosaic Rooms Exhibition Reviews from London
Virginia WhilesTwo ongoing exhibitions -- one on the collections of the Royal Asiatic Society, and another on emerging art from Palestine -- provoke serious reflection on older and newer forms of colonization.

27 Nov 2023 | Review

The Many Faces of Rocketganj
Vasudha ChatterjeeA review of Prateek Arora’s first solo exhibition, Rocketganj, that contextualize the fraught relationship between technological advancement and economic disparity in India.

27 Nov 2023 | Review

Gauri Gill: A Profile
Critical CollectivePrix Pictet’s 2023 awardee Gauri Gill’s work in village communities in Rajasthan and Maharashtra shines through with a rich, nuanced humanism, or what she speaks of as “active listening.”

26 Oct 2023 | Essay

Shireen Gandhy on Chemould at 60
Gayatri SinhaThe 60th anniversary of Chemould Gallery brings to centre stage the contribution of Mumbai’s Gandhy family to India's art sphere.

26 Oct 2023 | Interview

The Launch of Art Mumbai
Critical CollectiveDinesh and Minal Vazirani, owners of Saffronart, speak about the new art fair they are organizing in Mumbai.

26 Oct 2023 | Interview

New Circuits of Art and Tourism in Kolkata's Durga Puja
Mrinalini VasudevanOn 'curated experiences' that have emerged around the festival, which is increasingly entangled with politics and the market, even as it tries to live up to the 2021 honour of the UNESCO tag.

26 Oct 2023 | Essay

Prussian Blue: A Prismatic Parade of a Modern Pigment
Shaon BasuKNMA’s latest show presents a medley of personal, socio-political and artistic takes on the world’s first synthetically produced modern pigment.

26 Oct 2023 | Review

Sakshi Gupta: “when time from time shall set us free”
Gayatri SinhaAn emotionally charged, and original use of iron scrap in objects that are both vulnerable and delicate marks Sakshi Gupta’s debut show in Mumbai.

25 Sep 2023 | Review

How Does a Language Die? Debates Around Urdu with Javed Akhtar
Umara ZainabThrough the lyricist’s reflections on Urdu, the writer charts the history of the language in modern India, interrogating the myths around it and the reasons for its supposed decline.

25 Sep 2023 | Essay

Exhibition Reviews
Critical CollectiveReviews of Abir Karmakar's Passage and the 6th edition of the Delhi Contemporary Art Week

25 Sep 2023 | Review

Interrogating India’s First Museum Biennale at the Bihar Museum
Namrata GhoshA disconnected collection of various exhibitions, the article raises important questions about the use of the word ‘biennale’ while examining the impressive museum the event is located in.

25 Aug 2023 | Review

Review: Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, 2023
Virginia WhilesThis year’s festival focuses on themes of loss, exile and conflict within families to create experimental works of political relevance.

25 Aug 2023 | Review

Representing a History of Violence: The Partition Museum in Delhi
Umara ZainabThe recently inaugurated museum brings together oral histories, art works, media and personal records to highlight Delhi’s experience of violence and displacement in the wake of the 1947 Partition.

25 Aug 2023 | Review

Resurgence in the Gardens: Arshi Irshad Ahmadzai’s Bagh-e-Babur
Arushi VatsThe artist paints an ode to the resilience of the gardens in Kabul through historical and contemporary political turmoil, tracing the stories of the past embedded in built heritage.

25 Aug 2023 | Review

Marking Time: Two exhibitions at Bikaner House
Critical CollectiveThe exhibitions, Rumination on India and Reflecting the Self kick off the art season with a backward glance at early beginnings, and a recent efflorescence.

25 Aug 2023 | Review

A Crisis in the Sundarbans: An Interview with Arko Datto
Namrata GhoshArko Datto speaks on his photographic practice whilst documenting, over several years, the harsh realities of the climate crisis in the Sundarbans.

20 Jul 2023 | Interview

Fragile Landscapes: In Conversation with Ishita Chakraborty
Critical CollectiveCritical Collective caught up with Ishita Chakraborty to learn more about her subjects, method of work and sources of inspiration while working on the Sundarbans and the Brazilian Amazon.

20 Jul 2023 | Interview

Memory and the Archive in Photography: Soumya Sankar Bose and Riti Sengupta
Critical CollectiveThe two artists talk about their respective practices, which delve into questions of identity, history and loss, and use the medium as an alternative archive of memory.

20 Jul 2023 | Interview

The Sheherwali Jains of Murshidabad
Namrata GhoshA look into the little-known history of the Sheherwali Jains of Azimganj and Jiaganj, who played a significant role in shaping the economic and cultural landscape of Murshidabad.

20 Jul 2023 | Interview

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

26 Jun 2023 | Essay

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

26 Jun 2023 | Essay

The Land, the Landscape, and the Long view
Sampurna ChakrabortyThe exhibition Scenes from Santiniketan and Benodebehari’s Handscrolls provokes the viewers to identify the notion of self within the larger context of land, landscape and its ideology.

26 Jun 2023 | Review

The Rain Within: Indigenous Art on Urban Walls
Radhika SharmaOn the creative elements that define storytelling in folk and tribal art through the works of Gond artists Mayank Shyam and Ram Singh Urveti.

26 Jun 2023 | Review

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

26 Jun 2023 | Review

Review of DAG’s The Babu & The Bazaar
Meera MenezesDAG’s exhibition explores Calcutta’s history and culture through the prism of oil paintings for wealthy patrons and popular art created around Kalighat in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

25 May 2023 | Review

Retrospectives on Pablo Picasso and Faith Ringgold at the Musée Picasso
Virginia WhilesOn the 50th death anniversary of the artist, Musée Picasso calls for a reflection on Picasso's relationship with African art while juxtaposing his work with the art of Faith Ringgold.

25 May 2023 | Review

Aziz Hazara and Soumya Sankar Bose at Experimenter, Kolkata
Shan BhattacharyaOn the work of two lens-based artists whose art draws from different yet deeply personal experiences which shaped their lives.

25 May 2023 | Review

Review of Rhizome: Tracing Ecocultural Identities
Neerja DeodharThe curatorial vision behind the exhibition, and its sprawling layout across a museum, invite the visitor to rethink and deepen their relationship with nature and ecology.

25 May 2023 | Review

Review of The Planetary King: Humayun Padshah
Umara ZainabEbba 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.

25 May 2023 | Review

Tension and Opposition in Performance: Nikhil Chopra
Critical CollectiveOver a six-month period, Nikhil Chopra worked in a studio in Gallery Continua, Paris, creating an interchangeability between the body and landscape.

25 Apr 2023 | Essay

Third Eye of Shiva and World of Kali: A Review of Mul Mathi
Neerja DeodharCombining various textiles and crafting techniques, the 22 artworks created by artisans of the Chanakya Atelier and School of Craft have captured the aesthetic intricacies of Manu and Madhvi Parekh’s

25 Apr 2023 | Review

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

25 Apr 2023 | Interview

Notes from the Desert: Historic Redressal at the 2023 Sharjah Biennial
Gayatri SinhaDrawing upon colonial histories of violence and oppression, the Sharjah biennial creates networks of shared narratives among artists of the global south.

24 Mar 2023 | Review

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

24 Mar 2023 | Essay

The Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum: A Palimpsest of the Past and Present
Amrita Gupta SinghMumbai: A City Through Objects - 101 Stories from the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum allows for an exploration of the city of Bombay/Mumbai through the lives of several objects in the musuem.

24 Mar 2023 | Review

Golconda-Hyderabad : Imaging History
Gayatri SinhaIn a project spread over several years, Dr Hans Winterberg and Thomas Luttge document the decaying historical monuments of Hyderabad.

24 Mar 2023 | Review