2nd to 9th March 2026
11am–7pm
Visual Arts Gallery, IHC, New Delhi
Our Ashram…Santiniketan, a solo exhibition of Kiran Dixit Thacker’s sculptures, drawings and paintings, will be on view at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodi Colony, New Delhi from 2–9 March 2026. The weeklong presentation brings together more than one hundred works that trace the artist’s lifelong engagement with the landscape, people and rhythms of Santiniketan, offering an immersive encounter with an oeuvre that moves effortlessly between bronze, mild steel, stone, watercolour, painting and drawing.
Kiran Dixit Thacker, the only living female disciple of Ramkinkar Baij, has built a formidable body of work over decades. Her practice is rooted in figurative sculptures and informed by geometric forms and a rigorous armature that gives strength to her surfaces. Many of the watercolours, paintings and drawings in the exhibition were created during her years in London, while the bronze, stone and mild steel sculptures were produced at her studio in Santiniketan. The show includes standout pieces such as The Goat, Three Santhal Men, Woman with her Hens Cocks, towering palm trees with peacocks, and sensitive bronze works like Owls, Lovers and Monkeys—each demonstrating Kiran’s meticulous attention to detail and her tactile command of metal and other materials.
Kiran’s work is shaped by the influence of teachers and peers—most notably Ramkinkar Baij and the printmaker Somnath Hore—whose lessons in materiality and direct, tactile making continue to inform her approach. Her themes draw on village and tribal life, and her sculptures and drawings convey a resilient optimism: despite personal hardships, Kiran’s art radiates joy, determined lines and a playful spirit. Her commitment to strong armature and careful surface treatment ensures that each piece reads as both structurally assured and emotionally resonant.
Kiran’s relationship with metal is central to her practice. She explains that while bronze is a beloved medium, its cost and the high stakes of even small mistakes led her to explore mild steel; her time teaching design and technology in London further honed her metalworking skills. “I have always loved shaping metal—heat and a careful hand let you coax any form from a stubborn sheet. While bronze holds a special place in my heart, its cost and the risk of a single mistake led me to embrace mild steel, a medium that lets me be both bold and economical. My years teaching and working in London sharpened my technique, but it is Santiniketan—its ponds, birds, barefoot walks and changing seasons—that remains my deepest inspiration; I hope that sense of enchantment and resilience comes through in every piece” explains Kiran Dixit Thacker.
Our Ashram…Santiniketan invites audiences to experience an artist whose practice bridges memory, place and craft. The exhibition presents a rare opportunity to see a comprehensive display of Kiran Dixit Thacker’s work—an artist who translates the everyday life of Santiniketan into sculptural narratives that are at once monumental and intimate.
