High Seas, Open Roads
We’re excited to be opening 2025 with our fourth show, and the first to be hosted at our archive in Fort.
Exhibitions
In Kalamkari Country
Art historian Rajarshi Sengupta takes us on a tour of south India’s celebrated Kalamkari textile tradition
Echoes of the Land – Virtual exhibition
Sarmaya’s first exhibition in Delhi is now online! Experience the sights and sounds of ‘Echoes of the Land’ as it was staged at Ojas Art in Nov 2022
Sarmaya X Ojas Art present ‘Echoes of the Land’
Highlights from our two-week exhibition at Ojas Art, Delhi, which showcased the works of 20 artists from the Sarmaya collection
Memories of the Water Bearer
To a weary traveller or parched soldier in 19th-century India, there was perhaps no sight as welcome as the approach of a bhishti. A quick untwisting of the mouth of the mashaq slung over his shoulder, and cool clear water would splash into a grateful cupped palm.
One tradition, many lives: The Indian miniature
We welcome some priceless miniature paintings into our collection, including the Mughal Hamzanama by exploring the many traditions of this practice in the Sarmaya collection
Postcards from Madras
Postcards began at the end of the 19th century as a new kind of crossover between photography and the popular print market. In a collaboration with Picture Postcard Empire, we bring you a virtual exhibition of intriguing postcards from the city of Madras
Divine Doorways – Gopurams of South India
Exploring the towering gopurams of south India through rare photographs of temples across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala
reimagine II
Inside the studios and minds of seven contemporary artists who have interpreted and re-imagined objects from our collection to tell us stories in their unique styles
Sarmaya x TARQ present ‘Shifting Selves – Between meaning, mythology & mirage’
First in the series of collaborations between Sarmaya and India’s leading art galleries
Forgotten City of Joy
In a collaboration between Sarmaya and India Lost & Found, we admire the fading beauty of Mandu, home to the delicate Malwa style of architecture
reimagine I
‘reimagine’ is an ongoing Instagram-exclusive series through which we make connections across the Sarmaya collection and examine the extent to which our ways of seeing — and an object’s own meaning — are informed by time, space, and context
Portraits of a Pandemic
We asked photographers and artists how they interpreted the seasons of 2020 through their work to paint a portrait of an extraordinary year
On The Road in Madhubani
Photographer and author Chirodeep Chaudhuri curates a virtual exhibition of photographs taken during Sarmaya’s trip to Madhubani
Crossing Borders with Mithila
In this digital collaboration with the Mithila Museum in Japan, Sarmaya presents a breathtaking selection of works by the first-generation of Mithila artists to stun the global art world
Gaur: Glory, Ruin, Rediscovery
Once a seat of great power, the ancient city of Gaur lies in ruin, its hollowed-out walls holding stories, secrets and echoes of eminence
A Story of India in 12 Silver Coins
A rebellious empress, a great ruler of the south, a British queen taking the reins of a colony in revolt. Travel through time and discover Indian history through twelve exceptional silver coins
Delhi Most Iconic
Historian, scholar and author Rana Safvi curates a virtual exhibition on her favourite subject: Dilli
Dancing Queens
When Sarmaya got the chance to host an event with two of the most celebrated figures in Indian dance, we knew we had to push the envelope. We partnered with the dance company beej to bring Mallika Sarabhai and Anita Ratnam to Mumbai and engage them in a conversation about the transformative power of dance.… Read more »
Body & soul
Nudes reveal more about the artist than their naked subjects—at least, it’s fun to pretend this. Consider FN Souza’s The Traders. Four figures stand in a line, touching each other intimately. The sexual organs are well-defined, the faces are mangled beyond recognition. Was Souza feeling cynical when he painted this? Did he see sex as… Read more »