A Space Between Selves | Art Exhibition
Art Heritage and The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University present “A Space Between Selves,” an exhibition of artworks by Mittal Institute’s three former Visiting Artist Fellows—Cop Shiva, Pattabi Raman, and Sunanda Khajuria—whose practices reflect a deep engagement with identity, transformation, and cultural hybridity.
The Mittal Institute’s Visiting Artist Fellowship is grounded in the belief that artistic practice flourishes through sustained research, cross-cultural dialogue, and exposure to new intellectual environments. This ethos aligns closely with Art Heritage’s vision of providing critical institutional support to artists at transformative points in their careers, while also serving as a liminal space between experimentation and public engagement to present work that is not only aesthetically compelling but also intellectually rigorous and socially resonant. The exhibition stands as both a culmination and a continuation—of a process of artistic growth nurtured across institutions, geographies, and modes of inquiry.
READ THE E-CATALOGUE HERE
(ft. Essay by Trisha Gupta)
☆ The views represented herein are those of the interview subjects and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mittal Institute, its staff, or its steering committee.
Identity as a theme has no dearth of contradictions. So Raman’s work draws power from his subjects being outliers, but also from their sense of themselves as a community. Shiva’s images are a search for identities hidden under frontally presented ones; the iconic and the staged somehow still leaves room for secret selves. Khajuria’s deep immersion in a civilisational philosophical aesthetic results in a playful, expressive style.
In every image, an identity is not just recorded but performed. Yet every performance makes them a little more themselves.