It’s easily the most exciting time on the art calendar in Mumbai. A constellation of 31 art galleries, flooded with new artworks and shows, are coming together for the Mumbai Gallery Weekend 2018 (MGW). Expect walkthroughs with artists and riveting panel discussions, spread between January 31 and February 4 – one of which will also be hosted at Le Mill! More on that, soon.

While you can find the complete schedule and programme on Mumbaigalleryweekend.com, to help you navigate the new edition we decided to share our picks:

Announcing our upcoming exhibition ‘Asymmetrical Objects’ that will be on view 19 January onward at the Museum! Curated by Tasneem Mehta, co-curated by Himanshu Kadam. In January 2018, the Museum completed 10 years since it opened to public after a 5-year restoration in 2008. We have also completed 160 years since it first opened to the public in its original location at the Town Barracks in 1857! ‘Asymmetrical Objects’ refers to the founding principles of the Museum – Nature & Science – which are as prevalent now as it were then. We have juxtaposed this idea with our ongoing engagement with the prevailing ‘environment’ through a series of contemporary art exhibitions. We have invited 10 of our foremost artists whose practice includes an interest in nature & science, in consumption & degradation as process & product. The exhibition showcases works that respond to and explore the Age of Anthropocene and it’s impact on the environment. Showcasing works by artists Atul Bhalla, Jitish Kallat, Manish Nai, Mithu Sen, Prajakta Potnis, Ranbir Kaleka, Reena Kallat, Rohini Devasher, Sahej Rahal, Shilpa Gupta #bdlmuseum #asymmetricalobjects #contemporaryart #art #installations #mumbai #anthropocene #environment #science #nature

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Bhau Daji Lad Museum: Asymmetrical Objects | Atul Bhalla, Jitish Kallat, Manish Nai, Mithu Sen, Prajakta Potnis, Ranbir Kaleka, Reena Kallat, Rohini Devasher, Sahej Rahal, and Shilpa Gupta.

The museum clocks 10 years since its grand reopening, and 160 years since it was first opened to the public in 1857. This group show is a nod to these dates, and it also weaves in references to nature and science – which are among its founding principles.

Chatterjee & Lal: Don't Look At The Finger | Hetain Patel

In his video work, Don’t Look At The Finger, Patel mixes martial arts with sign language to create a powerful new visual language. The film follows a ceremonial ‘fight’ between two protagonists, a man and a woman, in the grand architectural setting of a church.  

Chemould Prescott Road: UnMythU | Mithu Sen

Artist Mithu Sen, who has exhibited and performed widely – at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York) and TATE Modern (London) – is set for her first solo show in India after 8 years. The gallery will be converted into a “(Con)Temporary Museum” and this exhibition is a preview of “an (un)certain future museum” show. Five “museum” pieces will be performed under legal, contractual guidelines between the artist and each visitor during the period of the exhibition. UnMYthU seeks to unpack the artist’s practice, through unique modes of engagement.

Piramal Museum Of Art: Drawing A Line Through Landscape | Nikhil Chopra, Thukral & Tagra, Jitesh Kallat and Aji V N, MF Husain and SH Raza.

Goa-based artist Nikhil Chopra’s Drawing A Line Through Landscape is a lecture-performance; it was also the title of his performance at Documenta 14, Kassel in 2017. Chopra’s work often involves extensive travel. This time he traverses nearly 2,500 km between Athens and Kassel: crossing the mountainous landscape of Greece, deserted villages, Soviet townships and orthodox monasteries in Bulgaria, the verdant wilderness of Cozia National Park and gatherings at public squares and art spaces in Sofia, Budapest and Bratislava. It culminated with the artist displaying a monumental drawing in September 2017.  His journey, however, reads nothing like a glib travelogue. It’s a meditation on ideas of self, abandonment, austerity, and territorial violence in today’s Europe. Also on view are works by other artists, such as Thukral & Tagra, Jitesh Kallat, MF Husain and SH Raza.

This remarkable painted photograph of the cherubic Prince of Morvi is only one of 15 featured in #GQIndia’s article on #PortraitOfANation. Can’t make it to our exhibition in #Mumbai? Get a mini tour by clicking through the link in our bio. #SarmayaCollection #WaysOfSeeing #ImagingIndia #SarmayaExhibition #RarePhotographs #StoryOfIndia

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Pundole’s: Portrait of a Nation, A Nation in Portraits | Felice Beato & Samuel Bourne amongst others

The exhibition features 19th century photography of the Indian subcontinent from the Sarmaya Collection, curated by Madhavan Pillai. It is simultaneously the history of a country and also the history of photography itself. The socio-historical contexts hold clues to the photographer’s perspective and the agenda of those who commissioned them. It begins with the Mutiny of 1857 and goes well past the turn of the 20th century.

Other noteworthy shows:

Volte Art Projects: Aureate Sun | Nalini Malani, Sheba Chhachhi, Ranbir Kaleka, Parul Thacker and Pandit Khairnar

Jhaveri Contemporary: Solo Show | Gyan Panchal

Project 88: This Is Temporary | Shreyas Karle