This latest exhibition in Hyderabad captures how Indian artists are reimagining tradition

The city is gearing up to host a group exhibition that promises to linger in your thoughts long after you leave. Forms of Being is a group show of Indian contemporary artists, running for a month, bringing together a spectrum of voices — masters, mid-career practitioners and emerging talents — in a conversation that spans memory, identity, tradition and modernity. This isn’t a show with a single theme; it’s a space where stories collide, where personal histories meet collective experience and where every brushstroke, print and texture becomes a point of reflection.

Forms of Being brings together India’s many artistic identities in one resonant dialogue

The gallery will showcase works by 16 different artists, representing their different mediums, faith and introspection, and how their works vary yet align with each other’s. These works respond to contemporary realities like social tensions, cultural identity, the rhythm of life, all rendered through layered textures, symbolism, mixed media, prints, acrylic washes and water colours. “I see tradition as something alive — not something to worship or reject,” says Jaswanth KD, one of the artists whose pieces are going to be a part of this exhibition. “I take fragments from heritage and make them collide with what’s happening now. It’s like arguing with your own history — just to make it speak again,” and that dialogue runs through the entire show.

Srinivas Tingeerkar — another one of the artists amongst the many — reflects on art as conversation. “Each piece serves as a dialogue between the world around me and the personal echoes of my past and present,” he says. Anand Gadapa emphasises on the layers of memory and the art of discovery stating that “Nothing is ordinary and mundane. I always try to bring forth the unknown from the known.” His words capture the show’s energy — of looking closely, of uncovering silent layers of meaning in what surrounds us.

Laxman Aelay sees the exhibition as an affirmation of continuity rather than contrast. “Being part of this collective reaffirms that the contemporary is strongest when it acknowledges tradition,” the artist reflects. “We carry forward what came before us, but in our own visual language.”

The exhibition promises to be a space where works converse fluently, forming unexpected resonances, inviting contemplation and weaving empathy and reflection into every corner and every piece of art. It celebrates plurality, continuity and the quiet power of observation, reminding viewers that contemporary Indian art is less about spectacle and more about encounter.

Forms of Being invites audiences to linger, to feel and to experience art as a conversation between recollection and imagination, tradition and experimentation — a show that is set to quietly claim attention and leave a lasting impact.

Entry free.

On till December 1, 11 am to 7 pm.

At Gallery Space, Banjara Hills.

Email: isha.p@newindianexpress.com

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