Platform for Art

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and the India Habitat Centre join hands to make art accessible to the public.

Crafts of India are framed at the INA Metro Station corridors. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)

The windows that glimpse into the city will look out into its art as well. Starting January 15, Jor Bagh Metro Station will have light boxes projecting hand-coloured photographs and portraits of three generations of Maharanas, who ruled Mewar. A few stations away, commuters at the Mandi House station will see the festival of colours through Tarun Chhabra’s photographs. Every three months, the display will introduce a new India to commuters. “The Metro is a public premise. There is tremendous potential to develop such activities. We started with Jor Bagh because it is a quieter station, so people can enjoy art at leisure,” says Anuj Dayal, Executive Director, Corporate Communications, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The company has joined hands with India Habitat Centre for the public art project.

This is not the first time that the rail has added colour to its walls. In March 2014, DMRC in association with the Embassy of France mounted an exhibition of photographs by Pablo Bartholomew at the Rajiv Chowk Metro Station.

There are permanent exhibits too. Among others, the INA Metro Station has 58 panels of handicrafts and handlooms created by craftsmen from across India — from Banarasi brocade and Mithila paintings from Bihar to terracotta tiles from Rajasthan. Students from Delhi College of Art have designed murals in ceramic and fibreglass at Shahdara and Welcome Metro Stations and South Delhi Polytechnic for Women and Rajasthan College of Art were commissioned to design artwork for the Connaught Place to Dwarka corridor, with themes varying from Panchtantra tales and Harappan and Mohenjodaro civilisations, to the making of Metro Rail.

In a city bereft of public art, these installations also fill that void. “The government should take steps to publicise these works, so people know about their existence. Delhi has so many intersections and circles where also, it makes sense to commission art,” says Shubhra Chatur-vedi. The Delhi-based artist worked with Vishwesh Sant on the 234 sq m metal installation at the Janpath Metro Station. Titled jan path, this is a tribute to three important elements: jan or people, and the two monuments, Jantar Mantar and Agrasen ki Baoli. In 2010, she along with Vibhor Taneja, also designed the mirror work You are here… at the Central Secretariat Metro Station. This predicts the future of the Delhi Metro network, with maze-like formations and mirrors that give the impression of being at various places at once.

Not all art, however, is suitable for the subway. “I am looking at the aesthetics of travel, the sublime beauty, breaking the stress of travel. We will look at art that is not critical, but reflects Indian culture and concerns of contemporary society. There will be text with each work, both in Hindi and English,” says Alka Pande, curator for the project.

Meanwhile, the DMRC is set to dot its path with more art in the coming years. Stations through the heritage line will have a consistent artistic theme of historical buildings, with different monuments at each station. Pande also intends to experiment with other arts — from poetry reading sessions to music performances and writing workshops in subways.

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

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