Hyderabad has always had art in its bones, in its Deccani miniature traditions, its archives, its studios, its collectors and its quietly flourishing galleries. But from October 26 to November 1, 2026, the city will experience something it has not had before: a week when four major galleries, a historic museum, artists, students, architects, designers and curious publics move through one shared cultural map. Hyderabad Art Week 2026 is not merely an art event; it is an invitation to see Hyderabad differently.
One City, Four Galleries
For seven days, Dhi Contemporary, Kadari Art Gallery, Kalakriti Art Gallery and Srishti Art will operate not as isolated destinations but as connected points in a city-wide cultural journey. The inaugural Hyderabad Art Week brings together exhibitions, gallery circuits, open studios, talks, interactive sessions and archival showcases, creating space for multiple generations of artists, students, collectors and institutions to meet.
What makes HAW compelling is its refusal to flatten difference. Each gallery retains its own voice, history and curatorial approach; together, they form a larger conversation about where contemporary art stands in Hyderabad today.
The Women Behind The Idea
Hyderabad Art Week is the brainchild of four women gallerists: Bhargavi Gundala of Dhi Contemporary, Lakshmi Nambiar of Srishti Art, Rekha Lahoti of Kalakriti Art Gallery and Supraja Rao of Kadari Art Gallery. Their collaboration is rooted in a shared belief that art should be encountered through movement, observation, conversation, making, archives and the cultural spaces that surround them.
The initiative's visual identity was launched by Shri Jupally Krishna Rao, Hon'ble Minister for Tourism, Culture and Archaeology, positioning HAW as an ambitious cultural project with the potential to become a perennial fixture in Hyderabad's calendar.
Four Exhibitions, Four Worlds, One Vision
At Dhi Contemporary, founded by Bhargavi Gundala, a solo exhibition by Gayatri Danthuri extends the gallery's commitment to emerging practices, experimentation and critical dialogue. Dhi's programme treats contemporary art as an evolving conversation rather than a fixed category.
Kadari Art Gallery, established in 1991 as Hyderabad's first private art gallery, presents Worlds Within Reach: Artists in Focus. Curated through an open call, the exhibition spotlights young and emerging artists while exploring ecological materiality, technology, the human experience and the intersections of art, design, architecture and Telangana's histories.
At Kalakriti Art Gallery, I Know What I Am Doing, curated by P. S. Jalaja, brings together contemporary South Indian practices across generations. Featuring 17 artists and the Transisters Collective, the exhibition examines intention, power, labour, environment, caste, gender, memory, migration and place. It also opens a dedicated engagement with the Kalakriti Archives, asking urgent questions about collecting, preserving and documenting cultural memory.
Srishti Art, Hyderabad's oldest contemporary art gallery, founded by the late Remani Nambiar and now led by Lakshmi Nambiar, presents Alpana Vij's solo show, The Weight of Small Things, Vij works with found twigs and organic fragments, creating quiet compositions that turn the wall into an open page, where fragility, time and perception settle into stillness.
Beyond The Gallery Walls
The most expansive part of HAW happens outside the exhibitions. Through Beyond the Classroom, students engage directly with cultural practitioners including Lina Vincent, Kirtana Thangavelu, B. V. Suresh and Suresh Jeyaram, The conversations explore how one begins and sustains an artistic practice, writes about art, approaches residencies and builds a life around creative work.
Workshops bring art closer to the body and the senses. Shubhankar leads storytelling and collage-making; Manushya explores salt crystallisation as a material practice; and *Suraj Gupta* works with natural dyes. Here, making becomes a way of thinking, materials are not just mediums, but invitations to experiment.
Beyond The Gallery Walls
The most expansive part of HAW happens outside the exhibitions. Through Beyond the Classroom, students engage directly with cultural practitioners including Lina Vincent, Kirtana Thangavelu, B. V. Suresh and Suresh Jeyaram, The conversations explore how one begins and sustains an artistic practice, writes about art, approaches residencies and builds a life around creative work.
Workshops bring art closer to the body and the senses. Shubhankar leads storytelling and collage-making; Manushya explores salt crystallisation as a material practice; and Suraj Gupta works with natural dyes. Here, making becomes a way of thinking, materials are not just mediums, but invitations to experiment.
Why This Week Matters
Hyderabad Art Week 2026 asks a powerful question: what if a city could be experienced as a network of encounters rather than a series of separate destinations? For one week, galleries, studios, classrooms, archives and public spaces become part of one living cultural ecosystem.
Whether you are an art lover, a student, a collector, a designer or simply someone looking for a new way to experience Hyderabad, HAW offers a rare chance to step inside the city's creative imagination. This is Hyderabad's art scene, out in the open, and it is only beginning.
From October 26 to November 1, Hyderabad becomes more than a backdrop for art, it becomes the artwork's meeting ground. Whether you begin at Kalakriti in Banjara Hills, wander through Jubilee Hills, discover Dhi Contemporary in Madhapur, or end the day at Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad Art Week invites you to move, look closely, ask questions and belong to the conversation.
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