The Pavilion of India opens Geographies of Distance: remembering home, an exhibition exploring memory and belonging in a rapidly transforming world

• Presented by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in partnership with the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) and Serendipity Arts
• The group show features new large-scale artworks by five artists — Alwar Balasubramaniam (Bala), Ranjani Shettar, Sumakshi Singh, Skarma Sonam Tashi, and Asim Waqif — curated by Dr. Amin Jaffer
• Accompanied by a dynamic performance programme across the city between May and November 2026
• The exhibition marks India’s return to the Biennale Arte since 2019

Venice (Isolotto, Arsenale), 9 May – 22 November 2026 | Previews: 6, 7, 8 May 2026

6 May 2026, Venice – The Pavilion of India opens today Geographies of Distance: remembering home, a landmark exhibition at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Presented by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and curated by Dr. Amin Jaffer, the exhibition brings together five leading contemporary artists whose practices reflect on the meaning of home in a time of profound transformation. 

The India Pavilion is presented in partnership with the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre and Serendipity Arts. Installed within the historic Isolotto warehouse in the Arsenale, the exhibition unfolds as a meditation on memory and transformation responding to the Biennale’s overarching theme, In Minor Keys. 

Geographies of Distance: remembering home expresses how, for those whose lives are shaped by change or distance, home becomes less a fixed place and more a portable condition: part memory, part material, part ritual, part personal mythology. Bringing together the works of five artists who represent the geographic diversity of India — Alwar Balasubramaniam (Bala), Ranjani Shettar, Sumakshi Singh, Skarma Sonam Tashi, and Asim Waqif — the exhibition is unified through its use of materials deeply rooted in Indian civilisation, such as clay, thread, bamboo and papier-mâché, each carrying cultural memory while responding to a contemporary context. 

Across the Pavilion, home appears fractured, suspended, scaIolded, and reimagined. The works reflect a shared condition of change, and together the artists form a collective voice that is both deeply rooted in Indian identity and globally resonant.

Exhibition Highlights 

Not Just for Us, Alwar Balasubramaniam (Bala) 

Balasubramaniam presents sculptural panels formed from clay and soil drawn directly from the land of rural Tamil Nadu, where he works. Marked by natural fissures and fractures, the works register the passage of time and environmental forces, evoking both the fragility and endurance of the earth beneath us, which itself becomes a record of memory and transformation.

Under the Same Sky, Ranjani Shettar 

Shettar’s sculptural installation comprises intricately crafted, suspended forms inspired by flowers and natural growth. Made by hand using traditional processes, the works appear weightless, forming a conceptual garden that visitors move through. Her practice reflects the rhythms of making and tending, positioning nature and craft as integral to the emotional landscape of home.

Permanent Address, Sumakshi Singh 

Singh has created an immersive, life-sized reconstruction of her demolished family home in New Delhi using delicate embroidered thread. Suspended in space, the structure appears as a ghostly architectural trace rather than a solid form. In part a mediation on domestic space and domestic labour, the work transforms absence into presence, suggesting that home survives not in a physical structure but through remembrance

Echoes of Home, Skarma Sonam Tashi 

Tashi’s work reflects on the architecture and ecology of Ladakh, using fragile materials such as papier-mâché to evoke traditional dwellings impacted by climate and landscape. His installation highlights the vulnerability of these practices in the face of modern construction, raising urgent questions about sustainability, community, and cultural continuity.

Chaal, Asim Waqif 

Waqif’s large-scale bamboo installation draws on the visual language of scaffolding found across Indian cities. Constructed from a material long embedded in vernacular architecture, the work suggests a structure in the process of becoming. It signals both renewal and disruption, foregrounding the inevitability of change in the urban environment.

Performance Programme 

An extended performance programme produced by Serendipity Arts will activate the Pavilion and the city of Venice through music, movement, storytelling, and interdisciplinary interventions throughout the Biennale from May to November 2026. Programming features intimate, site-responsive performances that unfold across the city, inspired by the environment of Venice and the Biennale theme In Minor Keys and rooted in Indian cultural forms. The first performances will take place during the Vernissage week, when the India Pavilion will present a cross-cultural programme that draws from the discipline of Indian classical music, directed by renowned composer and tabla player Bickram Ghosh. From the 6th to the 9th of May, performances will take place across the city and on the water, starting at Mercato di Rialto, with additional performances presented in partnership with the Palazzo Diedo – Berggruen Arts and Culture and the Fondazione dell’Albero d’Oro. The full schedule is enclosed.

Inauguration 

The Pavilion was inaugurated today, Wednesday 6th May, with a ceremony to open the exhibition led by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Culture and Tourism of India, and Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Culture. Also in attendance was H.E. Vani Rao, Ambassador of India to Italy.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Culture and Tourism of India: 

“Geographies of Distance: remembering home presents a contemporary India that is both rooted and forward-looking. As our nation continues to evolve, this Pavilion reflects the strength of our cultural memory and the power of artistic expression to connect India with the world.”

Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Culture: 

“This exhibition brings together artists whose practices engage deeply with questions of memory, material and transformation. Their work reflects the realities of a rising India while contributing to a broader global dialogue on belonging and identity.”

Isha Ambani, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre: 

“Venice has long been where the world comes to witness the future of art. Through the India Pavilion, NMACC is proud to ensure that India's voice — complex, layered, and unmistakably its own — is heard clearly in that conversation.” 

Sunil Kant Munjal, Founder Patron, Serendipity Arts: 

“The India Pavilion extends our commitment to creating dynamic, interdisciplinary cultural experiences. Through both visual art and performance, we invite audiences to engage with the idea of home as something to be shared and continually reimagined.” 

Dr. Amin Jaffer, Curator: 

“In response to In Minor Keys, this exhibition explores home as an emotional and material condition rather than a fixed place. Through fragile, organic materials and deeply personal narratives, the artists reflect on how memory, migration, and change shape our understanding of belonging.”

CREDITS 

Geographies of Distance: remembering home 
Commissioner: Ministry of Culture 
Curator: Amin Jaffer 
Organising Partners: Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre & Serendipity Arts 
Exhibitors: Alwar Balasubramaniam (Bala), Sumakshi Singh, Ranjani Shettar, Asim Waqif and Skarma Sonam Tashi 
Venue: Arsenale

ENDS

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For Images: National Pavilion of India Press Pack 

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Notes to Editors 

About the Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture is the apex body responsible for the preservation, promotion, and dissemination of India’s vast and diverse cultural heritage. With an unwavering commitment to safeguarding the nation’s tangible and intangible art forms, the Ministry undertakes strategic eIorts to ensure that India’s rich cultural legacy is accessible, inclusive, and sustainable. Operating through 2 attached oIices, 7 subordinate oIices, and 34 autonomous organizations fully funded by the Government of India, the Ministry facilitates a culture-based development model that nurtures creativity, honours tradition, and fosters innovation in the cultural space. These institutions work synergistically to implement policies and programs that empower communities, recognize artistic excellence, and connect citizens with their heritage.

Vernissage week performance programme:

• Wednesday, 6 May, 6pm | Mercato di Rialto | Currents of Return
• Thursday, 7 May, 12pm, 2pm and 4:30pm | Fondazione dell’Albero d’Oro, Palazzo
• Friday, 8 May, 7.15pm | Palazzo Diedo, Berggruen Arts & Culture | Sangam: A Tapestry of Voices
• Saturday, 9 May, 6pm | Mercato di Rialto | Home and Beyond

About the Artists: 

Alwar Balasubramaniam (Bala): (b.1971) in Tamil Nadu, India. He received a BFA from the Government College of Arts, Chennai, India, in 1995 after which he continued his studies in Edinburgh and Vienna. Bala’s works have been featured in exhibitions and collections worldwide, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), New York; The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; and Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi, India. In 2001 he was given the Joan Miro foundation award accompanied by a solo exhibition. 

Ranjani Shettar: (b. 1977) lives and works in Karnataka, India. Her works are in many prestigious museum collections and have been the subject of several solo presentations. Recently, the Barbican Centre in London hosted Cloud songs on the horizon, Shettar’s first major institutional show in Europe featuring a series of new, large-scale suspended sculptures across the entirety of their Conservatory. 

Sumakshi Singh: (b.1980) is an artist, curator, writer and educator. Her interactive installations, paintings, drawings, embroideries and sculptures have been presented in over 20 solo and 100 curated, group gallery and museum exhibitions worldwide, including at The Gallery of Modern art: Queensland, Saatchi Gallery: London, Kochi Biennale: Kochi, Museum of Contemporary Art: Lyon, MAXXI Museum: Rome, ThyssenBornemisza National Museum, Madrid, Padiglione Arte Contemporanea, National Museum, Milan, Mobilier National/ Les Gobelins, Paris, and Whitworth Art Gallery U.K. 

Skarma Sonam Tashi: (b.1997) has pursued a BFA from IMFA, Jammu, 2019 and MFA, Kalabhavana, VBU, Shantiniketan, 2021. His works have been exhibited in solo shows at Ladakh Art and Media Organization (LAMO), 2022 and group shows in various cities of India including Delhi, Kolkata, Kerala, Gujarat, Hyderabad, etc. He has received the Lalit Kala Academy Scholarship 2021-22; 64th National Award, NEA, Lalit Kala Akademi 2023; and “Art For Hope Grant” Hyundai 2024. He participated in the India Art Fair 2024 through Sa Ladakh. 

Asim Waqif: (b.1978) studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi. After initially working as an art-director for film and television, he later started making independent video and documentaries before moving into a dedicated art practice. He has presented solo exhibitions at London’s Hayward Gallery, Palais de Tokyo in Paris and with the Vancouver Art Gallery among many others. 

About Dr. Amin Jaffer, Curator 

Dr. Amin Jaffer is Director of The Al Thani Collection, an encyclopaedic holding of more than 5,000 works of art spanning millennia. Dr. Jaffer, whose academic and curatorial work focuses on the meeting of European and Asian cultures, was an Artistic Director for the second Islamic Arts Biennale (January-May 2025) and Senior Curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum (1995- 2007). Jaffer has curated exhibitions at institutions ranging from the Museum of Fine Arts, San Francisco to the Doge’s Palace, the Forbidden City and the State Hermitage Museum. Working to the vision of Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani, he oversaw the creation of The Al Thani Collection museum space at the Hôtel de la Marine, Paris, which opened to critical acclaim in November 2021. Since its inception, the space has presented exhibitions in partnership with prestigious institutions such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon; the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca D’Oro, Venice; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 

About NMACC 

The Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) is a first-of-its-kind, multi-disciplinary cultural space in the sphere of arts. Situated in Mumbai, the centre was envisioned by Mrs. Nita M. Ambani, and aims to preserve and promote India’s rich art, culture, and heritage through varied art forms. Opened in 2023, NMACC is home to three performing arts spaces: the majestic 2,000-seater Grand Theatre, the technologically advanced 198-seater Studio Theatre, and the dynamic 125-seater Cube. It also features the Art House, a four-storey dedicated visual arts space that houses shifting exhibits and installations from the finest artists across India and the world. Spread across the Cultural Centre’s concourses is a captivating mix of public art by renowned Indian and global artists, including the famed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room, an immersive installation, and ‘Kamal Kunj’ – one of the largest Pichwai paintings in India. 

About Serendipity Arts 

Serendipity Arts is an organization that facilitates pluralistic cultural expressions, sparking conversations around the arts across the South Asian region. Committed to innovation and creativity, the aim of the Foundation is to support practice and research in the arts, as well as to promote sustainability and education in the field through a range of cultural and collaborative initiatives. The Foundation hosts projects through the year, which include institutional partnerships with artists and art organizations, educational initiatives, grants and outreach programmes across India and the globe. The largest outreach programme of the Foundation is Serendipity Arts Festival, which is South Asia's largest multidisciplinary arts festival, creating platforms for artistic innovation and public engagement across visual arts, music, theatre, dance, culinary arts, craft, and photography. Held annually in Panjim, Goa, with free public access, SAF emphasizes the civic responsibility of supporting the arts and fostering meaningful connections between artists, audiences, and communities.