The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) will present a major exhibition from its collection at Christie’s London this summer, marking the first time the auction house’s annual exhibition series has been dedicated to a South Asian institution.
Titled “The Meeting Ground: Scenes from the KNMA Collection,” the exhibition will run from July 16th through August 21st at Christie’s King Street headquarters. Organized in collaboration with the auction house, the exhibition will feature works from the New Delhi–based museum’s collection spanning modern and contemporary art, alongside folk and Indigenous artistic traditions from South Asia. Works by artists including M.F. Husain, Sayed Haider Raza, F.N. Souza, and Jangarh Singh Shyam will be featured.
KNMA was founded in New Delhi in 2010 by Kiran Nadar, one of India’s most prominent collectors and a key figure in shaping the country’s institutional art landscape. KNMA was the first private museum of its kind in India and offers free public access to its collection.
The presentation comes as the institution undergoes a major expansion. It is currently developing a new standalone complex in New Delhi that will span more than one million square feet and serve as a multidisciplinary cultural space for visual and performing arts.
“Since its founding, KNMA has been committed to situating South Asian artistic practices within broader international conversations,” Kiran Nadar, chairperson of KNMA, said in a statement. “International engagement is a pillar of our vision, opening up new frameworks for dialogue and scholarship.”
Akansha Rastogi will curate the exhibition along with Preeti Bahadur, Avijna Bhattacharya, Premjish Achari, and Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi. The show will be organized into a series of narrative vignettes that explore the diversity of artistic production in South Asia from the 1950s to the present.
Anthea Peers, president of Christie’s EMEA, described the exhibition as “a landmark exhibition for Christie’s London and for our summer programme at King Street.”
Damian Vesey, Christie’s international specialist for South Asian modern and contemporary art, said the exhibition reflects the growing global interest in South Asian art. “This exhibition marks the first time Christie’s London has dedicated its summer exhibition to South Asia, as well as to a single institution,” he noted.
A three-day course, organized by Christie’s Education and KNMA, focused on South Asian art and the themes explored in the exhibition will accompany, running from July 28th through July 30th.
