This is an archive article published on December 28, 2021

‘Artists have always stood for freedom, equal rights and secular values’

An exhibition titled ‘India is not Lost’ is showcasing select works from various projects that engage with resistance and the idea of culture against communalism

5 min readNew DelhiDec 28, 2021 03:50 PM IST

Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT), exhibition 'India is not Lost', India's struggle for independence, showcase, artistic community, secular India, indian express news

The covers of various publications at the exhibition.

A year before India’s independence, Mahatma Gandhi visited Noakhali (located in the then East Bengal) just after it was engulfed by riots targeted at the Hindu population in 1946. A disappointed Gandhi had stated that if Noakhali is lost then India is lost, suggesting if communal infighting wins then India will lose as a nation. Years later, the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) is revisiting that statement through its exhibition titled “India is not Lost” at Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi. “The point that we are communicating with this exhibition is that India is not lost, and that we still have that resistance and culture against communalism. Artists have always stood for freedom, equal rights and secular values, which runs right through the exhibition,” says Ram Rahman, photographer, curator, and co-founder, SAHMAT.

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The showcase looks at iconic moments of India’s long struggle for independence largely through SAHMAT’s initiatives organised over three decades, since it was established in 1989 after the demise of the playwright, poet, and political activist Safdar Hashmi. He was violently attacked while performing a street play in Sahibabad, near Delhi. “The success of SAHMAT has been to keep a space alive for an engaged artistic community, activist art, and progressive values, giving freedom of expression,” says Rahman.

Postcards for Gandhi

Talking about the display curated and designed by artists Aban Raza, Deepani Seth and Arushi Vats, Rahman adds, “Over the years, through various projects, we have looked at the legacy of the national movement in many different ways, either through figures like Gandhi and revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh, or the war of 1857, the birth of an independent India and the making of the Constitution. The idea was to show how artists have consistently engaged with how we fought for Independence and how we gained it. We are also looking back from the time when these works were done, and where we stand now. We felt it was important to bring some of this into focus, given the kind of ugly debates that we are now seeing on nationalism, national movement, and this attempt at rewriting history.”

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So if we are reminded how during the 1857 mutiny soldiers from different communities fought in unison against colonial tyranny, a wall panel on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre notes how “the rise of the assault on historical veracity and rigour through unsubstantiated amendments to school textbooks, spurious claims in the public sphere, and the persecution of historians and public intellectuals have made the need for disseminating histories of popular struggles even more relevant”. There are also posters on Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh, Dandi March, and the Champaran Satyagraha, and banners of performances by SAHMAT. Select works from its numerous projects over the years — including “Gift for India,” “Making History Our Own,” “The Making of India,” “Postcards for Gandhi.” — are on display below MF Husain’s murals based on India’s freedom struggle. “It is poignant and evocative since Husain was exiled and targeted by extremists, and these are his paintings on the national movement,” says Rahman.

Shamshad Husain’s Bapu Ka Etihasik Mukadma

In finding a means to reach the larger public, SAHMAT turned to Gandhi’s use of postcards and letters. Its 1995 project ‘Postcards for Gandhi’ saw over 100 works by 100 artists on the ‘idea’ of Gandhi, displayed and sold at a uniform rate. Two years later, in 1997, nearly 200 artists imagined and created a ‘gift box’ “as a sculptural object of three dimensions that has the form of a five-inch cube” for the project “Gift for India”. The materials ranged from wood and iron to cotton, aluminum, and copper. In the ongoing exhibition, on display are, among others, artist Vijayan Kannampilly’s box with its one side painted in red, with an observation on how India has taken “One step forward, two steps backward”. Ranjana Appoo, on the other hand, fills her gift box with dried plants and words such as ‘love’ and ‘accept’.

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On the wall panels, among others, are the numerous pages of Uma Shankar Joshi and Madhvi Parekh’s book Bapu, and Mulkraj Anand and Shamshad Husain’s Bapu Ka Etihasik Mukadma. If Mahula Ghosh’s collage depicts Ambedkar’s India, Parthiv Shah too brings together leaders who fought for an independent India. “In terms of cultural imagination, we have not yet been defeated by communalism or majoritarianism,” says Rahman.

Early next year, SAHMAT will revisit another successful project from 1991, “Images and Words”, where 10 x10 inch canvas pieces were sent to artists, photographers, and writers, who had shared their idea of integrated India. Next year, to mark Safdar’s birth anniversary “a slightly larger format” of the project titled “Hum Sab Sahmat” will be launched.

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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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