Living Lineages

This exhibition brings into dialogue a group of artists whose practices are grounded in indigenous and folk traditions. Their works reflect a continuity of knowledge systems transmitted through practice rather than formal instruction. The exhibition brings together the works of Bhuri Bai, Balu Jivya Mashe, Saroj, Venkat Raman Shyam, and master practitioners of the Cheriyal scroll tradition, tracing a shared yet diverse continuum of indigenous and folk practices in India.

Across these works, storytelling is central. Whether through the rhythmic, symbolic vocabulary of Warli painting, the narrative sequences of Cheriyal scrolls, or the intuitive mark-making seen in Bhuri Bai and Venkat Raman Shyam’s works, each practice carries forward a lineage that both, community and personal.  What binds these artists is a relationship to image-making that is inseparable from life itself.

Repetition, pattern, and gesture become tools through which stories are remembered, reinterpreted, and passed on. At the same time, the exhibition acknowledges the shifting contexts within which these practices now exist. As these artists engage with contemporary platforms and audiences, their works negotiate visibility, authorship, and transformation - expanding beyond their original contexts. 

It invites viewers to view these works as living expressions of knowledge, identity, and artistic agency.