MOOL Presented by Exhibit 320, Curated by Shaleen Wadhwana

'MOOL, a major group exhibition curated by Shaleen Wadhwana brings together twenty artists from across South Asia to examine how personal memory, family histories and shared cultural inheritances shape our understanding of home. The exhibition unfolds through painting, photography, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, embroidery, printmaking, archival material and installation.

Contemporary art historical thought ponders how culture is shaped, what threatens it, what makes one defend it, and in turn, define ‘belongingness’ for ourselves. This need to feel at home is the driving force behind MOOL, a group exhibition of 20 diverse South Asian artistic voices curated by Shaleen Wadhwana.
 
But that is not where MOOL started. MOOL started because of a conversation between artists Mahwish Chishty and Gunjan Kumar in the USA in 2016 about history, homes, families, communities, and belongingness before borders were etched as per the ideas of the modern nation state. With visits to Taxila, Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Sanghol, Dholavira, Lothal, and Rakhigarhi, Chishty and Kumar unpacked what home meant. In finding common ground with undivided Punjab being their ancestral connection, both these artists created the art exhibition The Sindhu Project. Their artworks are in response from the Sindhu River, the past remnants of the Indus Valley Civilisation, and to present-day nation states neighbouring it. After being showcased at the South Asia Institute of Art, Chicago, these artworks were segregated into two parts to honor present-day realities and showcased at Zahoor Ul Akhlaq Gallery, National College of the Arts, and at Exhibit320 Gallery. These artworks are reunited for MOOL.

A key aspect of the exhibition is the presentation of personal artefacts from each participating artist's family, many displayed publicly for the first time. Shown alongside the artworks, these objects extend the exhibition beyond artistic practice, offering intimate points of entry into conversations around migration, inheritance, language, community and belonging. Together, they position the personal archive as an equally significant record of South Asia's cultural history.

The exhibition traces its beginnings to The Sindhu Project, initiated by artists Mahwish Chishty and Gunjan Chawla Kumar following conversations around ancestry, shared histories and the Indus Valley Civilisation. After travelling to sites including Taxila, Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Dholavira, Lothal and Rakhigarhi, the artists developed a body of work that was later exhibited separately in India and Pakistan. MOOL reunites these works while expanding the dialogue through eighteen additional artists whose practices collectively reflect the diversity and complexity of South Asia today.

Organised across four thematic sections: Family Inherited & Chosen, Emotional Cartography, The Body and its Object Biographies, and Home in Script; the exhibition explores how photographs, landscapes, textiles, language, domestic objects and inherited traditions continue to shape identities across generations and geographies.

Participating artists include Arpita Akhanda, Ashfika Rahman, Ashmina Ranjit, Bunu Dhungana, Chathuri Nissansala, Chudamani Clowes, Deena Pindoria, Gunjan Chawla Kumar, Hema Shironi, Mahwish Chishty, Mariam Suhail, Naira Mushtaq, Nilima Sheikh, Reena Saini Kallat, Riya Chandwani, Sheelasha Rajbhandari, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Wahida Ahmed, Yasmin Jahan Nupur and Zarina.'

MOOL is on view at Bikaner House until 13th August, 2026.

Words Platform Desk
Date 7.8.2026