Pirelli Calendar 2027 to spotlight India through the vision of Raghu Rai and Sølve Sundsbø

After Raghu Rai’s passing, his daughter Avani Rai will help realise the late photographer’s vision for the celebrated calendar with Sundsbø

3 min readUpdated: May 6, 2026 05:07 PM IST

Raghu Rai

Launched in 1964 and known to collaborate with some of the world’s most prestigious photographers, the limited edition annual Pirelli calendar, popularly referred to as The Cal™, will have India as its protagonist in 2027. This will be the result of a collaboration between Norwegian photographer Sølve Sundsbø and Indian master Raghu Rai, who passed away on April 26 and had been working on the project in the recent months. A release notes, “Over the last three months, Mr. Rai dedicated himself to developing the project through an original series of photographs that reflect his heritage and his vision of India for the calendar.”

Raghu Rai with Avani Rai

With Rai’s passing, his daughter Avani Rai, a photographer herself, will help realise her father’s vision. “The work my father created for Pirelli was a tribute to India — bringing together his lifelong vision with a more contemporary expression of its people and diversity, something he was always deeply drawn to. I cannot bear the thought of it remaining unrealised. Bringing it to life feels deeply personal, as if I am stepping into his gaze and the way he saw India through his camera. Photography was his gift to me — not just as a craft, but as a way of seeing — and in that we found a quiet, profound connection. Carrying this forward feels like a way of staying close to him, of keeping a part of him alive within me,” states Avani.

Sundsbø, who also photographed the 2026 The Cal™ , adds, “It’s a momentous opportunity to explore India. We will both do our utmost to celebrate the country and Mr Rai’s memory with this collaboration.”

Sølve Sundsbø

In the past, some of the most prominent and influential editions of the calendar have included the 1972 edition that saw its first women photographer Sarah Moon, the 1987 edition shot by Terence Donovan that was shot entirely with Black models, including a teenage Naomi Campbell. The 1994 edition shot by Herb Ritts featured supermodels Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss and in 2013 Steve McCurry shot portraits of women in Brazil to share the country’s changing social and economic situation. The 2016 edition, shot by Annie Leibovitz, featured influential women from different fields, including artist and musician Yoko Ono, American singer-songwriter Patti Smith and former tennis player Serena Williams.

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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