How a gallery walkthrough is introducing Hyderabad students to contemporary art
“When was the last time you did something for the first time?” asks Haseena Ahmed Jabri with a smile, quoting leadership expert John C. Maxwell. A final-year BSc Forensic Science student at RBVRR Women’s College, Hyderabad, Haseena is about to find out. She is visiting an art gallery for the first time, along with her college friends Tania Hazra, Anushka Dubey and Gorak Jayanthi — students from science, management and commerce streams.
Group exhibition
Bhargavi Gundala, founder and director of Dhi Artspace and Dhi Contemporary
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Special Arrangement
The four are on their maiden gallery walkthrough at Dhi Contemporary, an initiative of Dhi Artspace in Madhapur, which is hosting What Remains: Heritage Between Memory and the Present. The group exhibition brings together works by six artists — Manu N (Manushya), Martand Khosla, Sangam Vankhade, Saruha Kilaru, Sayantan Samanta and Sewali Deka.
New possibilities of heritage
Installations displayed at the gallery
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Special Arrangement
The students join a curatorial walkthrough led by Amit Kumar Vishwakarma, assistant curator and coordinator at the gallery. Framing the experience around the exhibition’s theme — new possibilities and meanings of heritage — Amit poses a question: “What comes to mind when you think of heritage?”
“Palaces, heritage buildings, tombs and museum objects,” the students respond. Amit gently pushes the idea further. “These are inheritances from the past, but we live in a time of rapid change. As protection evolves, so do the meanings of heritage.”
The artists, drawing from personal recollection, collective memory, technological mediation and shifting socio-political contexts, propose fluid and contemporary ways of engaging with the past.
Students feel the texture of an artwork at the gallery
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Special Arrangement
Near the entrance, Manu N’s abstract sculpture of lacquered terracotta forms catches the group’s attention, its surface dusted with delicate white salt crystals. Amit explains the process of salt crystallisation, detailing how the artist has used borax salt as a material intervention in this new body of work.
Nurturing imagination
“People are aware of traditional art but contemporary art practices are new to the city and need a certain kind of guidance,”says Bhargavi Gundala, founder Dhi Artspace. With its two key initiatives – gallery walkthroughs and artist presentations, the gallery’s focus has been to engage school students from not just international schools but also from government schools.
Schools which have art history as a subject often send its students to the gallery. Walkthroughs with them have been creative in terms of students’ ‘unfiltered approach, imagining things beyond the artist and expressing without inhibitions.’
“When we ask the group, what they like in the artwork, every student replies confidently without getting intimidated. They interpret the artwork in a new way which encourages us to move forward with diverse shows. The inhibitions come only with the older generation post-30s,” says Bhargavi.
Schools, colleges and corporates can approach the gallery for a walkthrough. “We are more than happy to host them,” says Bhargavi. “Art is not merely shown; it is studied, questioned, and redefined. The gallery stands committed to support practices that challenge perception and nurture imagination — showcasing visions from the city, the country, and the world beyond.”
Hailing from a family of craftsmen, Ahmedabad-based Sangam Vankhade uses ancient marble to tell a distinctly contemporary story through his 3D sculpture. The intricately carved geometric form, inspired by stepwells, features an artificial water body at its centre, created using resin.
Thought-provoking works
Insightful session at the gallery
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Special Arrangement
Dry branches arranged in a neat line catch the group’s attention in one corner of the gallery. “Can you guess the material used here?” Amit asks, before revealing that it is metal. Nearby stands another work by Sayantan Samanta: an eight-foot pillar marked by striking contrasts. Though adorned with decorative elements, it appears fragile and eroded, with rough, crumbling edges that evoke soil depletion, vanishing green cover and unchecked urban expansion — a reminder of what is being lost.
The walkthrough opens up new ways of engaging with contemporary art, helping the students understand artistic processes, materials and multiple perspectives. As the session draws to a close, Amit reflects on his role as a guide. “It’s enriching,” he says. “It feeds into my writing and helps me see things from many different viewpoints.”
What Remains: Heritage Between Memory and the Present at Dhi Contemporary continues till March 6
Published – February 04, 2026 01:34 pm IST
