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Anoushka Shankar-track inspired participatory installation to be shown in Mumbai

The artwork will feature in an exhibition, where part of the proceeds from the sale of other artworks will be directed to charity

3 min readUpdated: Jan 13, 2026 06:05 PM IST

The work will be part of 'HeartWorks 2026', an exhibition initiated by Falguni Sheth-Kapadia, founder of My Open Muse (HeartWorks)

Ahead of musician and sitarist Anoushka Shankar’s India tour later this month, a participatory art installation inspired by her track New Dawn — from the album Chapter II: How Dark it is Before Dawn — will debut in India. Created by Howareyoufeeling.studio (comprising duo Doyel Joshi and Neil Ghose Balser) in collaboration with Shankar, the work titled New Dawn 2 was created through workshops with partner NGOs, where children were asked to respond to the prompt “a new dawn” and several of their works became part of the installation.

The work will be part of ‘HeartWorks 2026’, an exhibition initiated by Falguni Sheth-Kapadia, founder of My Open Muse. To be showcased at IFBE, Ballard Estate, Mumbai, on January 16-17, while New Dawn 2 is not on sale, over 100 other artworks that form part of the showcase “HeartWorks 2026” will be available for purchase, with a portion of the proceeds directed to NGOs supporting diverse causes.

Seema Kohli artwork (HeartWorks)

Referring to an earlier iteration of the installation at Brighton Festival 2025 in England, in a social media post last year Shankar had stated, “Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined, back when I was titling the closing track of ‘How Dark It Is Before Dawn,’ that this simplest of phrases could take on another life in this way… This experience with @brightonfestival has only served to deepen my belief that this is true — that no matter how dark the night gets, sunrise will come. We must only turn our faces towards its rays.”

Featuring works across several mediums and genres, including photographs and tribal and folk practices, the exhibition itself will include works by the likes of artists Jagannath Panda, Seema Kohli, Ankon Mitra, Manish Pushkale, Jangarh Singh Shyam and Lado Bai. “This collection came together through a collaboration with Iram Art and curator Satyajit Dave. We curated over 250 artworks from 75-plus talented artists and photographers, who graciously contributed their pieces to amplify HeartWorks’ mission of compassion and change. Their expertise, combined with the artists’ generosity, helped weave this diverse, powerful body of work which spans masters and contemporary art, tribal and folk art as well as photography,” notes Sheth-Kapadia.

Children were asked to respond to the prompt “a new dawn” and several of their works became part of the installation (HeartWorks)

Rachana Darda, co-founder, HeartWorks, adds, “When Falguni first shared the idea of My Open Muse and HeartWorks with me, I felt something shift. It was as if all my years as an artist, photographer, and all the community work I’ve poured my heart into were leading me to this moment, a way to give back on a larger, more meaningful scale.”

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