How a gallery walkthrough is introducing Hyderabad students to contemporary art

A gallery walkthrough at Dhi Contemporry is introducing Hyderabad students to contemporary art. The gallery's ongoing group exhibition called 'What Remains: Heritage Between Memory and the Present' showcases new possibilities of heritage.

“When was the last time you did something for the first time?” asks Haseena Ahmed Jabri with a smile, quoting leadership expert John C. Maxwell. A final-year BSc Forensic Science student at RBVRR Women’s College, Hyderabad, Haseena is about to find out. She is visiting an art gallery for the first time, along with her college friends Tania Hazra, Anushka Dubey and Gorak Jayanthi — students from science, management and commerce streams.

Bhargavi Gundala, founder and director of Dhi Artspace and Dhi Contemporary | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The four are on their maiden gallery walkthrough at Dhi Contemporary, an initiative of Dhi Artspace in Madhapur, which is hosting What Remains: Heritage Between Memory and the Present. The group exhibition brings together works by six artists — Manu N (Manushya), Martand Khosla, Sangam Vankhade, Saruha Kilaru, Sayantan Samanta and Sewali Deka.

Installations displayed at the gallery | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The students join a curatorial walkthrough led by Amit Kumar Vishwakarma, assistant curator and coordinator at the gallery. Framing the experience around the exhibition’s theme — new possibilities and meanings of heritage — Amit poses a question: “What comes to mind when you think of heritage?”

“Palaces, heritage buildings, tombs and museum objects,” the students respond. Amit gently pushes the idea further. “These are inheritances from the past, but we live in a time of rapid change. As protection evolves, so do the meanings of heritage.”