“When was the last time you did something for the first time?” Hasina Ahmed Jabri asks, smiling, quoting leadership expert John C. Maxwell. Haseena, a final year BSc Forensic Science student at RBVRR Women’s College, Hyderabad, is about to find out. She is visiting an art gallery for the first time with her college friends Tania Hazra, Anushka Dubey and Gorak Jayanti – students of Science, Management and Commerce streams.
group exhibition
Bhargavi Gundala, Founder and Director of Dhi Artspace and Dhi Contemporary. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The four are on their first gallery walkthrough at Dhee Contemporary, an initiative of Dhee Artspace in Madhapur, which is hosting What Remains: Heritage Between Memory and the Present. The group exhibition brings together the works of six artists – Manu N (Man), Marthand Khosla, Sangam Wankhade, Saruha Kilaru, Sayantan Samant and Sewali Deka.
New possibilities for inheritance
Installation displayed in the gallery. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Students engage in a curatorial walkthrough led by Amit Kumar Vishwakarma, assistant curator and coordinator at the gallery. Framing the experience around the theme of the exhibition – new possibilities and meanings of heritage – Amit posed a question: “What comes to your mind when you think of heritage?”
“Palaces, heritage buildings, tombs and museum objects,” students answer. Amit gently takes the idea forward. “These are legacies from the past, but we live in times of rapid change. As security evolves, so does the meaning of legacies.”
The artists, drawing from personal memory, collective memory, technological mediation and changing socio-political contexts, propose fluid and contemporary ways of connecting with the past.
Students feel the texture of an artwork in the gallery. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Near the entrance, Manu N’s abstract sculpture of lacquered terracotta forms attracts the group’s attention, its surface adorned with delicate white salt crystals. Amit explains the process of salt crystallization and details how the artist has used borax salt as a physical intervention in this new work.
nurture the imagination
“People know about traditional art but contemporary art practices are new to the city and need a certain kind of guidance,” says Bhargavi Gundala, founder of Dhi Artspace. With its two major initiatives – gallery walkthroughs and artist presentations, the gallery has focused on engaging school students not only from international schools but also from government schools.
Schools that have art history as a subject often send their students to galleries. The walkthrough with him has been formative in terms of the students’ ‘unfiltered approach, imagining things beyond the artist and expressing without hesitation’.
“When we ask the group what they like about the artwork, each student answers confidently without any fear. They interpret the artwork in a new way which encourages us to move forward with the variety show. Hesitation comes only with the older generation after 30,” says Bhargavi.
Schools, colleges and corporates can contact the gallery for walkthrough. “We are delighted to host them,” says Bhargavi. “Art is not just shown; it is studied, questioned and redefined. The gallery is committed to supporting practices that challenge perception and nurture the imagination – showcasing visions of the city, the country and the world beyond.”
Hailing from a family of artisans, Ahmedabad-based Sangam Wankhade uses ancient marble to tell a uniquely contemporary story through his 3D sculpture. The intricately carved geometric forms, inspired by stepwells, have an artificial water body at its centre, created using resin.
thought provoking work
Knowledge session in the gallery. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Dry branches arranged in a neat line in a corner of the gallery attract the group’s attention. “Can you guess the material used here?” Amit asked before telling that it was metal. Nearby stands another work of Sayantan Samant: an eight-foot pillar, marked by striking contrasts. Although adorned with decorative elements, it appears fragile and worn, with rough, crumbling edges that reflect soil depletion, vanishing green cover and uncontrolled urban expansion – reminders of what is being lost.
This walkthrough opens up new ways to engage with contemporary art, helping students understand artistic processes, materials, and multiple perspectives. As the session ends, Amit reflects on his role as a guide. “It’s rich,” he says. “It influences my writing and helps me see things from many different perspectives.”
What’s Left: The Legacy Between Memory and Present continues at Dhee Contemporary until March 6
published – February 04, 2026 01:34 PM IST