16/09/2026
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ค๐กโ๐ฌ ๐๐ฑ๐ก๐ข๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ฐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐คโฃ
The Kiran Nader Museum of Art, New Delhi and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, will present ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, an exhibition of Nilima Sheikhโs selected works from over three decades. It opens on September 27 and will be on view till June 13, 2027. โฃ
โThe artistโs role is to bear witnessโto both the past and the present,โ says Nilima Sheikh. Over the course of her five-decade career, Sheikh has transformed narrative painting as a new way of engaging with history, highlighting lived experiences, illuminating regional stories, and foregrounding womenโs voices. Her research-based art practice draws on a vast array of historical accounts, archival materials, and literary sources. Adapting the traditional scroll format and painting primarily in casein and gum temperas, Sheikh weaves together image, text, and stenciled patterning to create multi-layered narratives that unfold as interconnected vignettes. โฃ
๐๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฌ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด traces Sheikhโs enduring investigations into trauma, loss, memory, and renewal. At the center is a selection of works from ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ด๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ช๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด, (2013-14) a ground-breaking series of suspended, double-sided painted scrolls. Juxtaposed on the surrounding walls are horizontal paintings on paper from ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, (2023-25) reflecting on the displacement of the nomadic Bakarwal communities of J & K. And finally, there is ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฉ๐ช๐ฅ/๐๐ช๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด (2025-26) Sheikhโs most recent reflection on war and unrest in the world that comprises ten monumental, suspended painted scrolls.โฃ
Based in Baroda, Nilima Sheikh (b. 1945) is one of the most consequential artists working in South Asia today. She studied history at Delhi University and then Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts, MSU, Baroda. โฃ
Heartiest congratulations to Nilima Sheikh from all of us at Heritage Trust, Baroda, and best wishes for this remarkable milestone!
