Exhibitions

In October, the Centre d’Art hosted an exhibition by artist in residence Nandita Sharma. Titled “The thinking hand”, she explained that her work moves between words and images.

Between 5-24 September, Centre d’Art hosted an exhibition by the local artist, P Saravanam, titled “Together”. In a world which seems to be getting speedier and more complicated day by day, Saravanam’s art returns us to the simple joys of everyday life and encounters in the villages of India.

Founded in 2020, the BORN IN FIRE residency at Phoenix Potteries (Auromodѐle) has become an important space for ceramic artists to refine their skills in anagama (‘cave’ in Japanese, it is a single-chamber, wood-fired kiln, often built into a hillside, known for its unique firing process and the natural ash glazes it produces, creating unpredictable and beautiful results) and wood firing.

Set within Pitanga’s tranquil backdrop, this exhibition invites visitors to explore the interplay between natural material and artistic expression.

Krishna Devanandan has a background as a dancer, cultural event organiser and teacher of Tai Chi. She helped organise the Auroville Film Festivals and managed the Auroville Art Service from its inception in 2012 until 2023, when the Auroville Foundation appointed new executives.

The first thing that strikes you about any exhibition of Priya Sundaravalli’s is the sheer fecundity and variety of her work which makes it impossible to classify her.

Born in Paris, Nathalie grew up surrounded by the evocative scents of her grandfather’s painting studio. At the age of seven, her life took a profound turn when her family moved to India, eventually settling in Auroville.

From November 15th to December 4th, the Centre d’Art brought together two contemplative exhibitions: Pujasree Burman’s "Sacred Echoes" and Vasandan Virappan’s "The Symbol of Meditation."

Stepping into Deepti Munot’s Fragile Layers exhibition of collages at Centre d’Art, I was instantly transported to the sea-side rock pools of my childhood.

Hufreesh has had many exhibitions of her work in Auroville, but perhaps this is the most evocative so far. The paintings, in their swirling lines and simple colours, seem to strip away surface inessentials to reveal something deeper, something more inwardly ‘vibratory’ than the simply pictorial.

From July 24th till August 18th, Savitri Bhavan hosted the exhibition ‘Darshan Messages’. It not only showcased the original cards from 1953 onwards, but also the evolution of the tradition of Darshan card gifting which has been stopped since January 2023.

David Blamey is an established London-based artist who works in the western tradition of post-minimal and conceptual art. His multidisciplinary practice includes a film, sound, exhibitions and the independent publishing imprint Open Editions.

In February, the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture hosted a double exhibition: Bhavyo’s paintings of the icy peaks of the Himalayan Tosh valley were displayed in its main room, while a number of urban design studies of his twin sister Bhavya were hung around the courtyard.

Between 29th January and 10th February, in the Centre d’Art there was an exhibition of drawings by Ongkie Tan, titled ‘Inky Onky’. Ongkie Tan’s art is sharp, detailed, with a whirr of strokes, mostly in his trademark inky black and occasional subtle colours.

A ceramics art exhibition by Priya Sundaravalli. Priya’s fifth pottery exhibition, set against the backdrop of the gallery space at Pitanga, was a breathtaking confluence of artistic skill and poetic sensitivity.

Dominique Jacques posed questions and changed the rules in her recent exhibition ‘Endless Game’. We’re used to visiting a gallery to see an art work with a little caption and then we are left to appraise it.

The Roger Anger Exhibition represents an homage dedicated to the artist's centenary, showing an extensive collection of drawings, collages, and sculptures.

Once, in later years, I went to see Roger in Auromodѐle, but it was different from the other times I visited him. I cannot recall why I went there, to discuss what.

Valeria has been teaching ikebana, the traditional Japanese Art of Flower Arrangement, in Auroville for over twenty years. Why did she, an Italian, study it for many years in Japan and then decide to teach it here?

Lisa Suchanek’s second exhibition at the Centre d’Art, titled Soft Self: Inner Multiplicity and Gentleness, unfolds as a captivating blend of art and introspective research.

Roger Anger, the artist is the first ever exhibition of the work of an artist who, by the age of 40, had won several prestigious architectural prizes, but who never exhibited his paintings or sculptures during his lifetime.

Jacqueline Lacoste, Roger Anger’s long term companion and collaborator, came to Auroville in 1970. In a sunlit moment at the Centre d’Art exhibition Roger Anger, l’artiste, she shares insights into Roger's identity, where the lines separating artist and architect dissolve, and reflects on the transformative influence of his spiritual encounter with The Mother.

On August 13, the Art for Land exhibition cum sale 2023 was inaugurated at the Unity Pavilion. Art for Land is a collaborative action of Aurovilians and friends of Auroville to raise funds for the purchase of the still-missing lands to consolidate Auroville’s Master Plan area.

A two hour twenty minutes documentary ‘Sri Aurobindo and The Earth’s Future’ will be released on YouTube on August 15, 2023 at 4:30 am Indian time, the hour Sri Aurobindo was born in 1872.

Centre d’Art, Monday, three o’clock in the afternoon. About fifteen people are working on the photograph of the Auroville banyan tree which is spread out over seven metres in front of the large picture window.

Through this process, people who had known the Banyan for 30 years or more experienced it in a new way. As an artist, it’s interesting for me to see this happening in Auroville with people who have such an intimate relationship with the tree.

Late February is the busiest time of the year in Auroville’s cultural calendar. This year there was an ‘Auroville Festival’ which took as its theme the first quality of the Mother’s symbol – Sincerity.

‘Sharing this series is my way of taking a pause and evaluating my own journey, allowing myself to touch upon the core of my experience. In this collection of my latest work, several forms have emerged that reflect the serene atmosphere that surrounds my studio.

Jyoti Khare recently opened an exhibition at the Unity Pavilion, consisting of twelve paintings inspired by twelve poems by Sri Aurobindo.

In mid October, Aurovilian Frederic Martin Duchamp presented ‘Presence and Flow’, an exhibition of photographs from different parts of the world at the Centre d’Art in Citadines.

On the 25th of August, Charles Zanon opened his sculpture exhibition ‘Unexpected’, at the Auroville Botanical Gardens, where he showcased a collection of pieces in black granite that he had been working on over the past year.

Nadia is a photographer, geographer, and has been the president of AVI-France for the last ten years. She first came to Auroville in 1973. In mid September, she presented some of her photos of Auroville from the 1980s at an exhibition at the Centre d’Art in Citadines.

The 15th August is always a special day in Auroville, but this 15th was particularly so as it marked the 150th anniversary of Sri Aurobindo’s birth and 75 years of India’s independence.

To celebrate Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary, Savitri Bhavan hosted “Blessings”, an exhibition of the photographs of Sri Aurobindo made by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Shraddhavan, the executive of Savitri Bhavan, left her body on July 19th, 2022, aged 80 years.

The Dreamweaving process recently ended with an exhibition of the concepts and a public presentation to the community. Afterwards, six of the architects involved came together to reflect upon the experience, along with Mona who helped hold the Dreamweaving process.

In early February, Ashwin Ezhumalai presented his photos of the Himalayas at an exhibition in Citadines Centre d’Art. Taken over six years during different treks with other Aurovilians in rarely visited valleys and passes in Himachal Pradesh, they capture the different aspects of this stark yet magical high altitude landscape: deep valleys, rock-strewn glaciers, grassy uplands, sacred lakes, immense starscapes, and stunning snow-capped mountains playing hide-and-seek with clouds.

Savitri Bhavan hosted an Auroville art retrospective 2021 from 17 December till 14 January. Works by Sathya, Shinso, Audrey, Hufreesh, Xinpeng, Abhijit, Sangara and Birgitta were displayed.

Robert L’Heureux’s last glass works exhibition from January 7 marks the swansong of his career as a glass worker. Eleven large pieces, some well over a yard in diameter, were shown in Centre d’Art for two weeks.

Pradeep Kumar’s exhibition Origins was held recently at the Centre d’Art in Citadines. Pradeep Kumar might work with a mostly monochrome palette, but the first thing that strikes the viewer of his multidisciplinary artworks is their intense originality.

Transparency is an elusive concept. At the borderland between here and beyond, between substance and transcendence, it’s a particularly interesting concept for artists to explore.

What do we write about the giant works of a ‘giant’ of ceramics – one who exhibits seldom and writes about his work even more seldom? Ray Meeker’s recent exhibition at the Centre d’Art at Citadines gives us the rare opportunity to reflect on the artwork of a pioneer artist and a man who has constructed innovative buildings in Auroville.

The sixth annual edition of the Art for Land exhibition opened on 31st January at the Unity Pavilion. The entire month of 'art with heart' included concerts, performances, talks and other events such as the Generosity Fair.