Indian Contemporary Art Makes Hermitage Debut in 'Sediments of Becoming'
The State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg is hosting an exhibition called 'Sediments of Becoming: Fossilised Present, Summoned Pasts,' which will be open until October 4, 2026. Curated by Marina Schulz and Tunty Chauhan, it features the works of 11 artists, including Afrah Shafiq, Anindita Bhattacharya, and Debashish Mukherjee. This is the first time contemporary Indian art is being shown alongside the museum's historical pieces. The exhibition covers themes like migration, labor, and culture, with notable works such as Bhattacharya's 'Blooming of Broken Wings' and Shafiq's video game installation 'Nobody Knows For Certain,' emphasizing the cultural exchange between India and Russia.
Key facts
- Exhibition title: 'Sediments of Becoming: Fossilised Present, Summoned Pasts'
- Venue: State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia
- Dates: on view until October 4, 2026
- Curators: Marina Schulz (Hermitage) and Tunty Chauhan (Gallery Threshold)
- 11 artists: Afrah Shafiq, Anindita Bhattacharya, Debashish Mukherjee, Gargi Raina, Lakshmi Madhavan, Manjunath Kamath, Maya Krishna Rao, Pushpamala N, Ravinder Reddy, Sumakshi Singh, V Ramesh
- First time in Hermitage's 260-year history that Indian contemporary art is juxtaposed with its collection
- Themes: migration, labour, caste, gender, nationhood, architecture, urbanisation, culture
- Sumakshi Singh's 'Ascent' also showing at India Pavilion, Venice Biennale
Entities
Artists
- Afrah Shafiq
- Anindita Bhattacharya
- Debashish Mukherjee
- Gargi Raina
- Lakshmi Madhavan
- Manjunath Kamath
- Maya Krishna Rao
- Pushpamala N
- Ravinder Reddy
- Sumakshi Singh
- V Ramesh
- Nandanar
- Vandana Kalra
- Srishti Ojha
- Kulpreet Singh
- Ana Mendieta
- Pierre Huyghe
Institutions
- State Hermitage Museum
- Gallery Threshold
- STIR
- Venice Biennale
- India Pavilion
- Tate Modern
- Vadhera Art Gallery
- De Beers
Locations
- St Petersburg
- Russia
- India
- Delhi
- Old Delhi
- Kashmir
- Kashgar
- Goa
- Venice
- Italy
- New Delhi
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom