An exhibition of paintings and drawings by Nita Banerji from Chandigarh

Preview on Wednesday, 24 August 2022 at 18:30

An exhibition of digital prints reproductions of Maria Prymachenko's paintings from the collection of National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art. 

Maria Prymachenko (1908-1997) was a Ukrainian folk painter and a representative of naive art, who also painted on ceramics, drew and was known for her embroidery. The works painted in the period 1963 - 1988, present an incredibly colourful world full of fantasy, filled with strange creatures, animals, floral motifs, as well as scenes from fairy tales. 

Inauguration by H.E. Igor Poliha, Ambassador of Ukraine on Wednesday, 10 August 2022 at 18:30

(Collaboration: Embassy of Ukraine; and Polish Institute, New Delhi)

About the exhibition and the artist:

The Ukrainian World of Maria Pymachenko

The exhibition presents 11 reproductions of Maria Prymachenko's paintings from the collection of National Museum of Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art with text by Dorota Pietrzyk from PrestoPortal.pl
 
The exhibition includes digital prints of eleven paintings by Maria Prymachenko (1908-1997), a Ukrainian folk painter, and representative of naive art, who also worked on drawings, embroidery, and painting on ceramics. Selected works, painted in the years 1963 - 1988, present an incredibly colourful world full of fantasy, filled with strange creatures (e.g. black beast), animals (bull), floral motifs (peacock among hops), as well as scenes from fairy tales (a Ukrainian wedding). Maria Prymachenko’s works are full of folk ornamentations painted using rudimentary water-based paints, such as the so-called ‘tempera for beginners’. It was only towards the end of her life that she could afford to use more expensive and better quality tempera paints.
 
Maria Prymachenko did not receive any artistic education. She completed only 4 years of primary school and grew up in a family full of creative passions: her grandmother specialized in colouring Easter eggs, her father was an excellent carpenter, and her mother was a craftsman. She drew her ideas from the environment.

An exhibition of quilts made by the women of the Kalbelia community in Rajasthan as part of the Kalbelia Craft Revival Project

Inauguration by Ritu Sethi, Founder, Craft Revival Trust and Mewa Sapera of the Kalbelia community on Tuesday, 19 July 2022 at 18:30

As part of this exhibition, there will be a talk on Saturday 23 July 2022 at 18:30 in the Annexe Lecture Room II on:

Quilting Memories
Illustrated lecture by Dr. Madan Meena, a practising visual artist, curator and researcher who is working extensively with rural, nomadic and tribal communities

The talk will focus on the cultural history of the Kalbelia community, their distinct practices and professions which is reflected in their quilts and distinguishes them from other quilting traditions in India. An example is the embroidered patterns on their quilts which draws references from the texture of snake scales. As a traditional snake charmer community, the references of the snake is evident in their folklore, music, dance, costumes, as well as in their crafts and lifestyle

(Collaboration: Kota Heritage Society)
 

An exhibition of political cartoons (digital prints) focusing on Bengal of the 1950s to the 1970s which reflect the socio-political milieu of the times. Cartoonists in Bengal expressed critical visual narratives with a deep sense of social and political awareness. Despite the political turmoil, upheavals and differences of opinions, artists were free to work with cartoons, expressing their opinion through the visual language of drawings. On view are a selection of cartoons by Sailo Narayan Chakraborty, Debiprasad Roy Choudhury, Kutty, Chandi Lahiri, Rebati Bushan and Amal Chakraborty

Research and Concept: Samit Das

Preview on Thursday, 7 July 2022 at 18:30

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

An exhibition of paintings in water colour, oil, gouache and acrylic by Astrid Kiehn from Germany

Painted directly at different locations in Himachal Pradesh, the artist has captured the changing colours and moods of the monsoon skies, mountains and terrain with a few works related to Pahari art

ABOUT THE ARTIST AND EXHIBITION

Preview on Wednesday, 18 May 2022 at 18:30

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

A covert mission of illustrations on Delhi
By Ankur Ahuja 

Preview on Tuesday, 19 April 2022 at 18:30

Delhi is not exactly a flanêur’s delight. Between the renegade cows, stray dogs and rambunctious truck drivers it can be quite difficult to marvel at the sights and sounds that Delhi offers. Romantic meandering is often reduced to dodging the Tetris like traffic. It’s way easier to hate Delhi than like it, let alone be devoted to it. The rudeness, the lack of grace, the wanton abuses flinging at you from unexpected quarters, administrative apathy, lack of empathy… the list can go on. Yet, if you start paying attention to the particulars, the minutiae of daily life, you discover a wealth of cultural representations, casually holding their own against the monochromatic uniformity that disguises as urbanization.

This exhibition is an investigation of the city, represented by its unremarkable common inhabitant in a daily transaction with the city’s seasons and moods in its public spaces. It is also a comment on the unique form of isolation that only crowded cities radiate, where strangers communicate in wordless glances- awkward, flirtatious, suspicious, threatening- while the drama of daily life plays out around us. 

Ankur Ahuja

Delhi based cinematographer, Ankur Ahuja is a self-taught artist. A visual documentarian at heart, her current work is informed by her troubled and tense relationship with Delhi and her identity as a second-generation Partition Punjabi. She has been published as a writer and artist in the Graphic Anthology ‘Neither Here Nor There: Restorying Partition’. She also helped establish the Delhi Comic Arts Festival as the Manager of the festival that brings together artists working with graphic novelists around the world together under one roof for exhibitions, talks, and interactions.

She has been part of several group shows. This is her second solo exhibition.

PHYSICAL EXHIBITION  
  
Impressions of monuments faithfully rendered in watercolours by Himanish Das
From the collection of Agha Khan Trust for Culture

Inauguration by Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC on Tuesday, 8 March 2022 at 18:30
 

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

An interpretation of Impressionism 
Exhibition of charcoal sketches by Reshma Valliappan aka Val Resh

Preview on Tuesday, 21st December 2021 at 18:30

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

An exhibition of archival portraits of leading Indian classical artists taken during their live performances
Black and white photographs by Rakesh Sinha from Lucknow

Inauguration by Shri Daya Prakash Sinha, former civil servant and eminent playwright and theatre director on Tuesday, 7th December 2021 at 18:30