An international black-and-white art exhibition at the Roerich Memorial Trust in Naggar, Kullu, brought together 31 artists from five countries in 2022.
The exhibition formed part of the festival Svetoslav Roerich and Devika Rani: Heralds of Beauty, organised during the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Russia.
Regional artists within an international display
Four participating artists came from Jammu: Jang S Verman, Jasleen Singh, Shivali Jamwal and Babita Bhardwaj. Their work appeared alongside artists from other parts of India and contributors from Malaysia, Turkey, Vietnam and Thailand.
The selection included varied techniques and styles united by the restriction to black-and-white work. Removing colour created a shared formal framework while leaving space for differences in drawing, mark-making, tone and subject.
Indian participants also included Prabhinder Lall, Mukta Gupta, Deepika Mali, Hardeep Siera, Sangita Sharma, Jayanti Patil, Priti Mishra, Harsh Loomba, Bharti Sharma, Mandeep Kumar Ghai, Rashmita Kanojia and Neha Sharma.
A collaborative cultural programme
The exhibition was developed by arts organisations in Chandigarh and Jammu with partners in Malaysia and Turkey, in collaboration with the International Roerich Memorial Trust.
Its setting carried particular significance. The trust’s Modern Art Gallery is connected with the cultural legacy of the Roerich family and with exchanges between Indian and Russian artistic traditions.
The 2022 display used that context to bring a wider group of Asian artists into dialogue. Rather than presenting national sections in isolation, it organised the works through a common monochrome format.
The participation of four Jammu artists made the exhibition a platform for regional practices within a broader international network, showing how a focused formal theme could connect artists working across several countries and cultural backgrounds.