Indian Pavilion Returns to Venice Biennale with 'Geographies of Distance: Remembering Home'

After a seven-year hiatus, the Indian Pavilion returns to the Venice Biennale with the exhibition 'Geographies of Distance: Remembering Home,' curated by Alma Feigis. The pavilion features five artists—Skarma Sonam Tashi, Sumakshi Singh, Alwar Balasubramaniam, Ranjani Shettar, and Asim Waqif—who explore home as a construct shaped by mobility, memory, and material practices. Tashi, from Ladakh, uses discarded cardboard, papier-mâché, and natural pigments to evoke his native landscape. Singh, who has lived across India, the US, Italy, and France, creates embroidered thread works that dissolve their fabric base, leaving levitating forms. Balasubramaniam works with soil and clay from Tamil Nadu, engaging with absence and imprint. Shettar employs humble materials like wax, paper, and cotton, drawing on traditional craft. Waqif addresses overconsumption and sustainability, using bamboo in a project he admits is not truly sustainable. The exhibition runs during the 2024 Venice Biennale.