Nalini Malani: Of Woman Born

"The daily experiences that are happening in the world make you want to clench your fists, grit your teeth, to shout out—in a moment of hysteria” —Nalini Malani

The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art is proud to announce Nalini Malani: Of Woman Born, a major site-specific commission and official collateral event of the 61st International Venice Biennale. Reaffirming the museum's commitment to supporting artists whose work speaks from India while addressing global urgencies, KNMA Founder and Chairperson Kiran Nadar positions Malani's decades-long practice as an articulation of "a fearless ethical position on violence, displacement, and the silencing of women."

The exhibition curated by Roobina Karode offers a contemporary reflection on the ancient Greek figure Orestes, who killed his mother in retaliation for the death of his father and was ultimately pardoned by Athena despite being pursued by the Furies. For Nalini Malani, the present moment resonates with this myth, where wars are waged in the name of self-defence, and those who perpetrate violence frequently remain unaccountable. Through this parallel, Malani urges a rethinking of geopolitical demarcations and foregrounds the agency of women who bear the brunt of global conflict. In her practice, memory is activated through materials, contexts, and imagination; sources drawn from literature, mythology, and philosophy dissolve and reconfigure through technological mediation, dispersing into wider publics. For Malani: "The daily experiences that are happening in the world make you want to clench your fists, grit your teeth, to shout out—in a moment of hysteria—standing with your back against the wall when the tragedy of life takes the upper hand."

Nalini Malani: Of Woman Born employs one of the recurring formats by Malani, the animation chamber, to construct an immersive environment shaped by multiple projections and sound. Combining hand-painted and digitally rendered animations, she bridges historical and contemporary realities while transforming architectural space into an active participant in the work. Presented at the Magazzini del Sale, the projections fall directly onto the salt-crusted brick walls, allowing the building's material history to become integral to the visual and conceptual field. The decision not to alter the interior reinforces the dialogue between image and site, where surface, texture, and residue form part of the narrative structure. "Malani compels us to think along the lines of ‘In Minor Keys,’ Koyo Kouoh's curatorial vision of attunement to subtle frequencies and quiet signals," says Roobina Karode, the curator of the exhibition.  

During the Biennale presentation, curatorial discussions, performances, and interactive workshops will encourage visitors to engage with the critical concerns of Malani’s practice. Public activation for the exhibition during its duration in Venice will centre on a recurring figure from the exhibition, The Skipping Girl. Appearing throughout Malani’s artistic language, this figure functions as a symbol of freedom: her continuous movement keeps her beyond control and coercion. Traversing mythology, memory, and time as both witness and survivor, she embodies a feminist perspective central to the artist’s work. Extending beyond the exhibition site, The Skipping Girl will appear on posters, banners, and vaporetto signage across Venice, guiding visitors toward the Magazzini del Sale. This city-wide activation transforms Venice into an expanded animation chamber, turning each encounter into a site of dialogue while dispersing the work into the public realm.

Kiran Nadar Museum of Art has maintained a sustained curatorial engagement with Malani’s work, including the landmark year-long retrospective You Can’t Keep Acid in a Paper Bag in 2014 in New Delhi and support for major international exhibitions such as The Rebellion of the Dead at the Centre Pompidou and the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea. Among more than fifty institutions worldwide that hold Malani’s work, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art maintains the most comprehensive collection spanning nearly six decades of her oeuvre, underscoring the museum's longstanding commitment to the artist.