A luscious magenta coloured quilt bears the face of a woman raising her arm in defiance. Displayed prominently against a teal background, this piece of cloth radiates a fierce warmth through quick, carefully-laid out stitches. Who is she and what is her story?
In this artwork titled Blanket of Solidarity (quilt on satin, 2020) by Rah Naqvi, the multi-disciplinary artist documents the fight of several hundred Muslim women who took part in a peaceful sit-in protest at Shaheen Bagh, Delhi condemning the CAA (The Citizenship Amendment Act) and NRC (National Register of Citizens). Braving the unforgiving cold, the women used quilts and blankets to keep warm and continue resisting. In this piece, one sees the body of an assertive woman with a marginalised religious identity, interacting with the quilt, intimate and essential to protect one’s flesh, while shielding one from the chill, showing us how bodies manifest while protesting.
Several such works offering a multitude of perspectives about the body in opposition, love, pain, and desire, are now part of Udal, Reading the Body from the Avtar Collection at Alliance Française of Madras until January 13. According to a release, the artworks from India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, span two centuries, covering the gamut of premodern imagination across secular Rajput miniatures, contemporised ritual tantra and folk art, to 19th Century Company paintings.
Art by Rah Naqvi
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Special Arrangement
“There is a primacy to the human body. In it lies life, identity, memory and appearance. But also, mortality which one must contend with at all times. Through it lies a primacy and a centrality to all our experiences,” says Shruti Parthasarathy, curator. “A narrative and complexity is essential to bring to this exhibit, particularly about the body being political,” she adds, highlighting artists on display including prominent Indian artist and philosopher KG Subramanyan whose work dabbles with the body and fantasy; and Somnath Hore, whose deeply abstract work tells us about the internal workings: of blood, bone, and muscle. It shows the body as frail, mortal even. Not to forget Atul Dodiya’s Dancing Dervish & Trussed Bull, in resplendent white, a moving tribute painted in Tyeb Mehta’s style when the former heard about Mehta’s passing in 2009.
Art by KG Subramanyan
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Special Arrangement
Also on display is artist Arpita Singh, whose beautiful painting of an aging woman’s body, wearing none of the oppressive demands of society to stay young and fit; is placed right next to FN Souza’s work showing the female nude in a slick, sensual light.
All the pieces on display are from art collector and entrepreneur Jaiveer Johal’s collection who began Avtar Foundation in 2024 with the aim to bring fine Indian contemporary art to Chennai, and take contemporary art from here to other parts of the country. Speaking about this exhibit, the collector says that one is eased in with a fairly straight-forward piece of the female body form by Indian contemporary artist Jamini Roy. The viewer then proceeds to witness bodies sans form through works like that of Prabhakar Kamble’s Chandelier made of ropes, metal, brass bells, cowry, leather, terracotta pots, celebrating the working class communities, particularly Dalits, whose labour has been foundational to the development of India.
Untitled by Arpita Singh
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
An interesting aspect of the display is also the several manifestations of the male nude. Take for instance Pallavi Singh’s five-panel work titled The Bather, where a woman’s gaze falls upon a man whose long, flowing hair is in a bathtub. Much like the erotic sringara often employed towards women who dress themselves, this and another painting by Lakshya Bhargava shows a rare image of a man shaving his leg. Painted on plywood, the texture lends itself to a playfulness, making it seem like there is indeed hair on the canvas.
“The exhibit aims to look at bodies in many different lights including one where it is wounded, intimate, political, and around other creatures. The aim is to front the centrality of the human experience. The body is after all, the home we carry,” says Shruti.
Udal Reading the Body from the Avtar Collection is at Alliance Française of Madras, Nungambakkam until January 13. Avtar is doing curated walks throughout the month. For details, check @avtarfoundation on Instagram
Published – December 10, 2025 03:00 pm IST
