At Srishti Art Gallery in Jubilee Hills, Triloka comes together like three separate threads woven into the same space, each carrying its own direction yet meeting at certain points. “Triloka is an annual exhibition we do at the gallery, where we bring together three artists, almost like presenting three distinct worlds in conversation with each other,” says Lakshmi Nambiar, curator and owner of Srishti Art Gallery, describing a format that allows difference to exist without being flattened into one idea.
The exhibition explores themes like memory, heritage, and personal stories. “All three artists approach ideas in very personal ways, but through materials that already carry a sense of history. So across the exhibition, memory is not presented as something fixed; it is seen as something that is constantly carried, reshaped, and lived through,” she explains.
Talking about the title Triloka, Lakshmi shares, “Triloka literally means ‘three worlds’, and that felt like the most intuitive way to think about the show. It is an annual exhibition, now in its fifth edition, where the idea is to bring together three artists and three distinct worlds into one space. Each artist builds their own world through cloth, clay, and line, and together these worlds exist alongside each other, suggesting different realities and ways of seeing in the same space.”
The exhibition will remain on view till May 22.
Moumita Basak
The works presented in Triloka emerge from sustained engagement with marginalised communities, particularly women, and the socio-political conditions shaping their lived realities. The practice is informed by an inquiry into how caste, class, and inherited cultural structures inform subjectivity, spatial access, and everyday negotiations of identity, while field encounters, observation, and dialogue articulate these narratives. The practice is materially grounded in discarded textiles as carriers of labour, memory, and socio-economic histories, recontextualised through stitching, layering, and vernacular techniques within a contemporary framework, foregrounding sustainability and the politics of craft. Memory and heritage operate as conceptual frameworks and material conditions, interrogating continuity and rupture, while the work invites critical engagement with visibility, labour, gendered experiences, and marginalised narratives, creating space for reflection and questioning.
Nayanjyoti Barman
Triloka has been a journey for me, as it began with an open call that received thousands of applications, from which a small group was selected and further narrowed down. Being part of this process motivated me to push my work towards greater clarity and depth. The work I presented draws from this journey of selection, reflection, and growth. Triloka, meaning three worlds, brings together three individual lenses shaped by different backgrounds, stories, and processes, and my work responds to this dialogue while exploring my own narrative. It involves diverse materials and layered processes, and engages with memory, history, and cultural identity, while leaving interpretation open to viewers.
Nirmal Mondal
My current body of work explores the contemporary condition of Bengal’s terracotta craftsmen, who for generations have built and restored terracotta temples, and examines the challenges they face while working within this traditional medium. Alongside this, I engage with the historical narratives depicted on Bengal’s temple walls, connecting them with my ancestral stories and modes of storytelling, while working with clay modelling, drawing, photography, and digital media. My primary medium is clay, and I use various chemicals to treat the surface, creating different textures. I begin with a core idea, develop it through fieldwork and research, and translate it into visual forms. My works remain evolving, interconnected fragments shaped by memory, environment, and narratives that encourage reconnection with self and untold stories.