THREE MODERNS: A Sculptural Symphony at Gandhi King PlazaThis December, the Gandhi King Plaza at the India International Centre becomes the setting for Three Moderns, a rare sculptural convergence featuring the works of three giants of Indian modernism—Himmat Shah, Krishen Khanna, and Thota Vaikuntam. Presented by Namtech Fine Arts, the exhibition brings together 12 significant sculptures that open a poetic dialogue between form, memory, and materiality.
For curator Uma Nair, the exhibition marks an emotional homecoming to a space where she has created five landmark sculptural projects. She reflects: “Curating an exhibition of Three Indian Moderns at the Gandhi King Plaza is about creating a feeling—an energy formed through the synergy of great artistic minds. When masters like Himmat Shah, the last of the Progressives Krishen Khanna, and Thota Vaikuntam come together, time becomes witness and sculpture becomes language.”Amid the expansive sky and lush greens of the Plaza, the sculptures appear as contemplative pauses—silent reflections on ritual, labour, devotion, and human endurance.Krishen Khanna, entering his 100th year, presents four monumental bronzes from his iconic Bandwallah series.
These musicians—figures of everyday celebration—become symbols of community and cultural memory, emitting an energy that feels like unheard music.Himmat Shah contributes four stone works that meditate on time and presence. His sculpted heads—both archaic and contemporary—stand like guardians of memory, turning the ordinary into the profound.Thota Vaikuntam showcases bronzes from The Sacred Gaze, echoing the earthy tones of Telangana. His forms celebrate rural spirituality, adorned foreheads, rhythmic postures, and a calm that is both ancient and immediate.
Carved in marble, cast in bronze, and shaped in resinated fiberglass, the sculptures become vessels of identity—solid yet tender, figurative yet abstract. As viewers move around them, the experience becomes a quiet choreography, a meditative walk through the lineage of India’s modern sculptural expression.This exhibition also honours the vision of the late Prof. M.G.K. Menon, a devoted IIC member and champion of Indian sculpture, who believed the Gandhi King Plaza should always serve as a home for India’s greatest sculptural voices.
THREE MODERNS: A Sculptural Symphony at Gandhi King Plaza, presented by Namtech Fine Arts, curated by Uma Nair, and organised by the India International Centre, will be held from 11th to 22nd December 2025 at Gandhi King Plaza, 40 Max Mueller Marg, Lodhi Gardens, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi.
