Vimoo Sanghvi Retrospective 'Whispering Clay' Opens at Sakshi Gallery

A retrospective exhibition titled 'Whispering Clay: Celebrating a Life in Ceramics' honors the late Indian ceramic artist Vimoo Sanghvi. Curated by Kristine Michael, the show runs from September 11 to 20, 2025, at Sakshi Gallery in Mumbai. Michael first met Sanghvi in 1997 while researching pioneers of Indian studio pottery as a National Institute of Design graduate student. The exhibition's foundation is a past interview with the artist, initiated after the Sanghvi and Shah family contacted Michael two years ago. Sanghvi's artistic training included studies at Willesden Art School in the UK in the late 1950s and with Marianne de Trey at Dartington. Her work evolved from functional pieces to sculptural forms created in Bombay, utilizing wheel work, hand-building, and modeling techniques. The curatorial approach groups works stylistically rather than chronologically, as dates for many series remain unidentified. Sanghvi was influenced by the Bombay Progressive Artists and her teaching position at the JJ School of Art, which connected her with prominent contemporaries. International exposure came from travels to museums and galleries in the USA, UK, and Europe, including a one-month residency in Tehran working with Iranian potters at the Shah's request. Key series highlighted include her figurative Heads and Cubist period stacks, noted for their advanced sculptural techniques uncommon among ceramic artists of her time. Michael emphasizes Sanghvi's perseverance in mastering raw materials, glazes, and firings despite limited access to processed materials and equipment. The exhibition aims to bring Sanghvi back into the spotlight within Indian modern art history, which often overlooks clay as a medium. Future research may explore archives of her teachers, Ronald Cooper of Willingdon Art School and Marianne de Trey in the UK. Sanghvi previously exhibited at the Commonwealth Artists Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the 1970s. An essay by Vir Sanghvi in the exhibition catalogue discusses her fierce determination to continue her artistic practice.