ನಿರೀಕ್ಷಣೆ nireekshane - the act of seeing

Across two artist studios at Arts House, ನಿರೀಕ್ಷಣೆ nireekshane – the act of seeing showcases a broad array of works by traditional and innovative artists from South Asia and its diaspora.

In this exhibition vernacular lens-based practices take center stage, bringing forth forgotten and overlooked lived experiences in South Asia and cultivating equity in photographic practices emerging from the margins.

Presented as an oeuvre of each artist’s practice, the surreal, hypnotic, and subversive techniques employed in the creation of photographic narratives become visible. The works traverse themes of domesticity, belonging, and landscape, drawing parallels between the notions of purity in social hierarchies and within photographic approaches.

Personal and communal histories are woven together as intimate exchanges occurring across time and geography and, in centering the act of seeing itself, the exhibition advocates for a comprehensive re-evaluation of what constitutes contemporary visual culture in South Asia.