India was at the Venice Biennale in 1954, again in 2011, and made a decent comeback in 2019. In 2024, no official pavilion—just some collateral noise. Even then, the best we put forward was a soft, ornamental installation. Decorative, forgettable, risk-free.
This isn’t about one artist. It’s about an ecosystem that confuses spiritual gimmickry for substance. When given the world’s most respected stage, we chose politeness over power. Symbolism over critique. Silence over provocation.
The curatorial decisions felt lazy. The institutional push—barely there. Private museums had more presence than the nation. That says everything.
India has artists who can hold their own on any global platform. What we lack is courage. Courage to back the right voices, not the safe ones.
Until that changes, we’ll keep showing up. But we’ll never arrive.