Six rooms, one conversation: Srila Chatterjee’s latest exhibition refuses easy labels

A gallery is often expected to offer a singular point of view. 6 ROOMS. 1 HOUSE., opening at 47 A on 3 July, takes a different approach. Curated by Srila Chatterjee, the exhibition unfolds across six distinct rooms, each with its own visual language and emotional register. Together, they form a portrait of Indian art that feels expansive rather than neatly categorised.

All you need to know about 6 ROOMS. 1 HOUSE.

The premise is deceptively simple. One house, six rooms. Within that framework, visitors move from the maternal iconography of Universal Mother to the restless energy of Bombay Meri Jaan, where watercolours capture the city’s changing rhythms. Animal Kingdom shifts attention towards the natural world through both traditional and contemporary practices, while Textile Talk follows stories embedded in weaving, printing and embroidery across Assam, Maheshwar and Kachchh. People Watching explores portraiture through five artists with sharply different perspectives, before Out of the Box brings together unexpected mediums including tea bag art, book sculpture, pinch pottery and sholapith.

For Srila, the exhibition did not begin with a curatorial thesis waiting to be illustrated. It began with the works themselves. “It actually came about the other way: there were works we wanted to show and when we put them all out, the stories just seemed to fall into place. Nothing has been forced. We have six rooms in the gallery and so we looked at six themes.”

That organic process gives the exhibition its rhythm. Rather than asking visitors to follow a prescribed argument, each room opens a different conversation while remaining connected to the others through curiosity and intuition.

The show also reflects Srila’s long-standing interest in dismantling the divisions that continue to shape conversations around Indian art. At 47 A and through Baro Market, she has consistently championed artists and makers whose practices sit outside conventional gallery structures. Here, tribal traditions, textile practices, urban narratives and experimental forms occupy the same space without one claiming greater cultural authority than another.

“When you come to the gallery you will understand: there really is no clear line drawn. All of this is contemporary art. Some is rooted in very traditional or tribal practice, some is rooted in urban metropolises. It's the artist's individuality that changes. Our whole point is to enjoy the art for what it tells you, not for what you've heard it should be measured for.”

That philosophy extends to the way the exhibition approaches accessibility. While admission is free, Srila argues that openness is shaped less by price than by atmosphere.

“Making a place welcoming and not intimidating, taking away the fear of ‘I don’t understand art’, focusing on the joy and not the investment” is what matters, she says. The works span a wide range of prices, yet they are presented through the stories they carry rather than their monetary value, inviting viewers to engage before they evaluate.

Housed within a restored 19th century Portuguese-style home in Khotachiwadi, 47 A lends the exhibition an added sense of intimacy. As visitors move from room to room, the house itself becomes part of the experience, encouraging pauses, discoveries and unexpected connections. By the end, 6 ROOMS. 1 HOUSE. feels less like six separate exhibitions than an invitation to reconsider how Indian art is seen, experienced and understood.

What: 6 ROOMS. 1 HOUSE - AN ART SHOW AT 47 A

When: July 3–19

Where: 47 A, Khotachiwadi, Ambewadi, Girgaon, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400004

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.