Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 1,020 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
Chennai recently hosted the art festival 'Contemporary Now' spread across 10 venues in the city. The third edition of this festival included exhibitions, panel discussions, and curated walkthroughs in a number of galleries.
The diversity of artworks on display was testimony to the collaborative effort involving galleries from other Indian cities as well. Galleries from Kolkata, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, and Mumbai shared their art works for the Chennai festival.
The participating galleries included Experimenter, Archer, Vadehra Art Gallery, Ojas Art, Art Alive, TARQ, Chatterjee & Lal, Chemould Prescott Road, and Project 88. They represent different dimensions of India's art landscape: preservation of traditional practices, historically significant modern art programmes, and experimental contemporary practices.
Founded in 2009 by Prateek and Priyanka Raja, Experimenter is a contemporary art gallery with spaces in Kolkata and Mumbai. It is known for its intellectually ambitious and experimental approach to art, engaging with themes such as identity, politics, history, memory, and social change.
Beyond exhibitions, Experimenter supports critical discourse through artist talks, workshops, and publications. Its annual Curators’ Hub encourages emerging curatorial talent.
Established in Ahmedabad in 1978, Archer Art Gallery grew out of an atelier founded by artist Anil Relia. It is particularly recognised for its work with limited-edition prints, including serigraphs of prominent Indian artists.
Founded in New Delhi in 1987, Vadehra Art Gallery is a leading institution for modern and contemporary South Asian art. It has played a significant role in supporting celebrated Indian modernists such as MF Husain, SH Raza, and Tyeb Mehta, and in art scholarship through its publishing programme.
Ojas Art was established in New Delhi in 2006 by Poonam and Rajiv Sethi, with a distinctive focus on India's indigenous, folk and tribal artistic practices. The gallery seeks to bridge the gap between traditional art forms and contemporary audiences.
Founded in New Delhi in 2001 by Sunaina Anand, Art Alive Gallery promotes modern and contemporary Indian art. It has also organised exhibitions of Indian art in international cities, helping introduce Indian artists to overseas audiences.
TARQ was founded in Mumbai in 2014 as a contemporary gallery for research-driven and experimental approaches to art. Its name, derived from the Urdu word tark, means logic or reasoning, and reflects its interest in encouraging critical engagement with art and ideas.
Established in Mumbai in 2003 by Mortimer Chatterjee and Tara Lal, Chatterjee & Lal spans contemporary art and design. The gallery combines solo exhibitions with research-based group shows that place artworks within wider historical, cultural and artistic contexts.
Founded in 1963 by Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy, Chemould Prescott Road is one of India's pioneering modern and contemporary art galleries. It champions experimental and interdisciplinary artistic practices, presenting works that range from painting and sculpture to photography and contemporary media.
Established in Mumbai in 2006 by Sree Goswami, Project 88 presents experimental and conceptually driven work by Indian and international artists. It often engages with challenging subjects such as globalisation, political structures, social inequalities, identity, and the relationship between art and public life.
Featured artists from many of these galleries and other institutions in Chennai are showcased in this photo essay. The lineup includes Jitish Kallat, Atul Dodiya, Shakuntala Kulkarni, Mithu Sen, Mohit Shelare, Reena Saini Kallat, Desmond Lazaro, and NS Harsha.
An art festival rooted in one city can thus become much more than a local cultural event through such collaboraion. It transforms the festival into a meeting point for diverse artistic practices, regional identities, new perspectives, and creative communities.
Art does not exist in isolation, and neither should the platforms that showcase it. When galleries across cities come together, they create opportunities for artistic discovery and a stronger, more connected art ecosystem.
Audiences gain access to work they might not otherwise encounter, making the festival richer and more engaging. For emerging artists especially, these connections for broader exposure can be transformative.
When a city welcomes artistic voices from elsewhere, it reinforces its position as an open, dynamic and culturally relevant destination. Gallery networks can continue long after the festival ends, creating ongoing opportunities for cultural exchange and professional growth.
When art travels, perspectives expand, and when galleries collaborate, opportunities multiply. Inter-city collaborations strengthen the entire art ecosystem of the country, in addition to promoting local artists.
One of the notable exhibitions at 'Contemporary Now' was titled How Long Will We Live? Or When Will We Die? It featured the works of Benitha Perciyal, and offered a comprehensive insight into her artistic practice built over three decades.
"I do not expect everyone to understand the work immediately. I simply hope they spend time with it. If they slow down, observe carefully, and begin asking their own questions, then the work has already begun its conversation," she explains.
"For me, that conversation is more important than providing fixed answers," she adds. As a mixed-media artist, she works extensively with wood.
She also offers words of advice for aspiring creators. "Artists should listen to the world and listen to themselves as well," she tells YourStory.
"Share what you want say. Don't be fast or too harsh in judging the work of others and your own work," she adds.
It is also important to remember to pause often. "Reflect on your progress, process it, and accept that things may always be the way you want," Perciyal signs off.
Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?
(All photographs taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at 'Contemporary Now' venues in Chennai.)