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Project 88 Shanu Lahiri
Curated retrospective
13 August - 19 September
โ€”
Contemporary Now 2026
Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai
8 - 25 August 2026

19/09/2026

Today is the last day to see Shanu Lahiriโ€™s retrospective featuring a selection of works from the Shanu Lahiri Archive โ€” a collection of paintings, drawings, and sketchbooks spanning the entire career of the artist. A dedicated team of researchers are in the process of documenting this extensive collection of works.

Huge thanks to the curators, archivist and the larger curatorial team for their work in preserving the artists legacy.

Tomorrow is the last day to see Shanu Lahiriโ€™s retrospective ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ : ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ ๐˜“๐˜ข๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ช at Pr...
18/09/2026

Tomorrow is the last day to see Shanu Lahiriโ€™s retrospective ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ : ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ ๐˜“๐˜ข๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ช at Project 88.

 Shanu Lahiriโ€™s works of the 2000s represent a culmination of her distinctively mature visual language, individualistic ...
12/09/2026



Shanu Lahiriโ€™s works of the 2000s represent a culmination of her distinctively mature visual language, individualistic perception, and varied modes of expression.For her the female figure was a recurring character, continually reimagined through shifting forms, identities - embodying power, grace and vitality while simultaneously revealing the vulnerabilities, constraints, and inequalities embedded within social structures.

This work emerges as a compelling statement within that larger artistic vocabulary. It invites the viewer, raising questions about identity, perception, and position. Lahiriโ€™s spontaneous, brisk brushwork creates a sense of immediacy, while subtle tonal palette is abruptly interrupted by emphatic patches of colours. The work confronts the viewer almost instinctivelyโ€”through a sudden, arresting gazeโ€”transforming the act of looking into an encounter.Shanu Lahiriโ€™s works of the 2000s represent a culmination of her distinctively mature visual language, individualistic perception, and varied modes of expression.For her the female figure was a recurring character, continually reimagined through shifting forms, identities - embodying power, grace and vitality while simultaneously revealing the vulnerabilities, constraints, and inequalities embedded within social structures.

This work emerges as a compelling statement within that larger artistic vocabulary. It invites the viewer, raising questions about identity, perception, and position. Lahiriโ€™s spontaneous, brisk brushwork creates a sense of immediacy, while subtle tonal palette is abruptly interrupted by emphatic patches of colours. The work confronts the viewer almost instinctivelyโ€”through a sudden, arresting gazeโ€”transforming the act of looking into an encounter.

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Shanu Lahiri
N**e figure
Acrylic on Canvasย 
52 ร— 30 inches
2010

Nehaย Choksiโ€™s book,ย ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ, is out now. Itย wasย commissionedย to accompany an exhibition at the Potter M...
08/09/2026

Nehaย Choksiโ€™s book,ย ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ, is out now. Itย wasย commissionedย to accompany an exhibition at the Potter Museum and publishedย inย theย seriesย ๐˜ˆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ถ๐˜ฎย ๐˜—๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด,ย University of Melbourne. Curator Chus Martรญnez writes in the introduction:ย 

โ€œInย ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜—๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ: ๐˜ˆ ๐˜—๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜š๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ(1795), the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) wrote that war is a practice that must beย unlearnedย through law, democratic government, and international institutions. The book was written in the aftermath of the French Revolution in 1789 in a moment defined by extraordinary political turbulence. War-he states-is not a sudden breakdown of order or a natural instinct, but a practice that states actively learn to do.ย ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ, a text by artist and thinkerย Nehaย Choksi, is even more radical.โ€

 Shanu Lahiriโ€™s sustained engagement with the lives and labour of the communities she encountered through her travels fi...
03/09/2026



Shanu Lahiriโ€™s sustained engagement with the lives and labour of the communities she encountered through her travels finds vivid expression in this canvas depicting fishermen at work. The composition captures the physical vigour and rhythmic movement of the fishermen, while the sudden leaps of live fish from the nets heighten the sense of immediacy and movement. Human beings, labour, animals and material seem compressed into one continuous field of work and life, as bodies, fish and nets become part of the same restless rhythm.

Lahiriโ€™s distinctive use of patches of oil colours, expressive linearity, fractured forms and activated spaces transforms an everyday act of labour into a charged visual experience. Visual authority, and compositional ambition are most impressive while the work resonates with the vitality of the moment, where human effort, movement and the unpredictable converge.

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Fishermen 1 (series),
Acrylic on canvas
67.5 x 170 inches
C. 1988/89

Image courtesy: Suyash Tajane

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น๐—นShanu Lahiri is not painting the city of Kolkata as a fixed location, but as an ongoing process, ind...
27/08/2026

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น

Shanu Lahiri is not painting the city of Kolkata as a fixed location, but as an ongoing process, individually adapting the traditional visual language of Far Eastern scroll painting to the rhythms of the city. The composition unfolds continuously through transport, labour, architecture and public life, guiding the eye across the scroll like a journey through time. Its aesthetic pleasure lies in embracing the city through abstraction and clarity, where form and space gently shift between visibility and invisibility. Brisk brushwork and spontaneous gestures capture the immediacy of each moment, transforming the scroll into a visual chronicleโ€”an evolving urban memory of Kolkata in motion.

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Shanu Lahiri
Transport Scroll
Ink on paper
263โ€ ร— 22โ€
Late 1980โ€™s

Congratulations to Rohini Devasher on her solo exhibition at The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT, titled ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ด. Th...
22/08/2026

Congratulations to Rohini Devasher on her solo exhibition at The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT, titled ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜—๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ด. This will be her first institutional solo in the United States.

The show opens on August 22, 2026 and runs till November 29, 2026.

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Video stills from:

Rohini Devasher
๐˜–๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด,
Four channel synced video installation,
25 minutes,
2023-24

Image courtesy: Rohini Devasher

Today is the last day to see Neha Choksi's video work, ๐˜๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ต, at KNMA and Christies London show ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ.___...
21/08/2026

Today is the last day to see Neha Choksi's video work, ๐˜๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ต, at KNMA and Christies London show ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ.

___

Video still from:

Neha Choksi
๐˜๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ข๐˜ต
HD video,
13 mins,
2012

 โ€˜I remember this one peddler who used to sell small toy-violins in the afternoon. He would carry his wares in a basket ...
19/08/2026



โ€˜I remember this one peddler who used to sell small toy-violins in the afternoon. He would carry his wares in a basket balanced atop his head while playing one of the instruments as he passed through the neighbourhood lanes. Whenever I heard him passby, I would rush to take two annas from Ma and buy a toy-violin...We would all take turns to play the toy-violins we bought, but the sound they made in our hands was always quite different. In the evenings another pheriwala' would come carrying a violin-a bona-fide instrument this time aroundโ€ฆ..This man would charge two rupees to give a recital. One day I asked him to come into our house and play...While the others listened to his music, I painted him. Later the canvas got selected for an exhibition. The man was possibly from Rajasthan- a true virtuoso.โ€™

โ€“ Shanu Lahiri, translated excerpt from ๐˜š๐˜ฎ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ

(translation by Ayana Bhattacharya Ayana Bhattacharya)

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Shanu Lahiri
Violinist
Oil on Canvas
44 x 32 inches
1988

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