Nalini Malani’s Venice inquiry into power and violence

At 80, Nalini Malani remains one of India’s most unsparing artists and feminists. A fierce critic of war, power and capital for decades, Malani has consistently pointed to a world shaped by an often violent, largely unchecked masculinity, in which the feminine is diminished.

Her practice has responded directly to the fault lines of the state, from India’s emergence as a nuclear power and the long shadow of Partition to episodes of communal violence and ongoing global conflict. At a moment marked by crisis and its uneven human cost, she brings that inquiry to a major collateral exhibition presented by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art at the 61st Venice Biennale this month.