STATE OF THE ART

From powerful patrons to groundbreaking contemporary artists the South Asian diaspora steals the spotlight at the Venice Art Biennale.

- SHUBHANGI JINDAL

For the landmark 60th edition, La Biennale di Venezia, aka the Venice Art Biennale, explores the theme of ‘foreignness’ through various approaches, fostering dialogue and exchange. Titled Stranieri Ovunque—Foreigners Everywhere, it is curated by Adriano Pedrosa, the first South American, openly queer curator in the history of the Biennale Arte. “Wherever you go and wherever you are, you will always encounter foreigners—they, we, are everywhere,” Pedrosa explains. “No matter where you find yourself, you are always truly, and deep down inside, a foreigner.” His show, spread across the Giardini and Arsenale venues, highlights art from historically marginalised communities, with a strong representation of the Global South.

The curator’s presentation, Historical Nucleus, located in Giardini della Biennale houses the artworks of India’s master modernists—pioneering abstractionists Ram Kumar and SH Raza, the iconoclastic Bombay progressive FN Souza, surrealist Bhupen Khakhar, primitivist-modernist Jamini Roy, prolific painters Amrita Sher-Gil and B Prabha. The contemporary section spotlights the work of the Bengaluru-based, women-led art collective, Aravani Art Project, which features a mural composed of cis and transgender women embodying the idea of inclusivity, acceptance, and identity. The Biennale represents a culmination of decades of artistic excellence with the ability to blend traditional techniques with modern sensibilities, seamlessly.