25 Artists Turn Their Inner Worlds into Art at India Habitat Centre
New Delhi witnessed a vibrant celebration of artistic diversity with INNER VISION, a group art exhibition that brought together the creative voices of 25 artists at the Open Palm Court, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road. Organised and curated by Kishore Labar, the exhibition was inaugurated on 17 August 2026 in the presence of eminent sculptor and painter Prof. Biman Bihari Das, Padma Shri awardee and President of AIFACS, along with Dr. Rashmi Singh, IAS, Secretary, Women & Child Development and Art, Culture & Languages, Government of NCT of Delhi.
The inaugural evening brought together senior artists, cultural personalities, art enthusiasts and distinguished guests, setting the tone for an exhibition that seeks to look beyond conventional ideas of visual representation. Rather than simply presenting what the eye sees, INNER VISION examines what happens when an artist observes, feels, remembers and imagines—and then translates those internal experiences into art.
At the heart of the exhibition is the idea that art often begins with something intangible. A landscape may evoke a memory, a person may trigger an emotion, an everyday experience may inspire reflection, or an empty canvas may become a space for imagination. Through colour, line, texture, form and composition, these impressions acquire a visible identity.
Curator Kishore Labar describes INNER VISION as an exploration of the world that exists within an artist. According to him, artists do not merely reproduce what they see; they interpret the world through their own experiences, emotions, memories and imagination. By bringing artists belonging to different generations and using different artistic languages together, the exhibition creates an opportunity for audiences to encounter a wide range of personal visual worlds.
The diversity of practices on display is one of the exhibition’s strongest features. Visitors encounter contemporary and modern paintings, abstraction, landscapes, figurative works, traditional and miniature art, Madhubani painting and sculpture. Despite their differences in technique and subject matter, the participating artists are connected by a common impulse—to transform an internal response to the world into a creative statement.
The exhibition also places particular emphasis on dialogue between generations. The participation of young artist Anmol Labar alongside established and senior practitioners demonstrates the organisers’ commitment to creating opportunities for emerging talent. A student of Ahlcon International School, Anmol began creating art at the age of five and has already produced more than 400 artworks. His participation reflects the belief that young artists can meaningfully contribute to the contemporary art conversation when provided with professional platforms.
Among the senior voices is Amita Singhal, a BFA and MFA Gold Medalist from M.D. University, whose practice explores culture, nature and feminine emotions. Her exhibition history includes prominent platforms such as India Habitat Centre, Lalit Kala Akademi and AIFACS. Another notable participant is Kiran Soni Gupta, senior artist and former IAS officer, whose artistic journey has taken her work to exhibitions in India and abroad. Her academic and cultural leadership experience adds another dimension to the exhibition’s multidisciplinary character.
The show also features the work of veteran miniature painter Mange Ram Sharma, who has around 45 years of artistic practice and has participated in more than 200 national and international exhibitions. His numerous honours, including recognition from AIFACS and a Senior Fellowship from the Ministry of Culture, underline the depth of experience represented at INNER VISION.
Traditional and contemporary practices intersect through artists such as Nisha Kumari, an MFA-qualified artist and Fine Art Instructor at Manav Rachna University. With around 18 years of experience, she is particularly known for Madhubani and modern art and has been an 11-time State Gold Medalist in Madhubani Painting in Bihar. Her participation strengthens the exhibition’s engagement with India’s rich traditional artistic vocabulary.
Nature, landscape and abstraction find varied interpretations through artists including Navita Kaushik, whose subjects range from horses and nature to abstract compositions, and Riena A. Jain, whose acrylic landscapes employ textures, impasto and palette-knife techniques. Ranjan Kumar Choudhury approaches landscape through memory, atmosphere and personal experience, rather than treating it merely as documentation.
Other participating artists bring equally distinctive perspectives. Shalini Agrawal draws inspiration from mythology, spirituality and nature, while Shashi Lata is recognised for her sensitive watercolour landscapes. Vidushi explores birds, freedom and movement through bold geometric and expressive forms. Vinod Kanwar, with more than 27 years of experience across oil, acrylic and watercolour, explores spirituality, symbolism and inner consciousness.
The sculptural dimension of the exhibition is represented by artists including Bishwaranjan Bhunia, who works across stone, glass, clay, metal and canvas; Dr. Prince Raj, an accomplished sculptor and painter, CCRT Senior Fellow and National Award recipient from AIFACS; and Shiv Raj Singh, a BFA and MFA graduate of the College of Art, Delhi, with more than two decades of teaching experience.
The remaining participants—Anjali Mittal, Dinesh Kumar, Jatin Chaudhary, Kumud Grover, Madhulika Jha, Manju Narain, Dr. Mohini Narain, Praveen Kumar Saini, Ranvir Singh Thakur and Seema Kholi—further expand the exhibition’s visual vocabulary with their individual approaches to imagination, observation, experience and expression.
Together, the 25 artists demonstrate that there is no single definition of an ‘inner vision’. For one artist, it may emerge through a remembered landscape; for another, through mythology, nature, spirituality or abstraction. It can appear in the movement of a horse, the flight of a bird, the textures of a landscape or the symbolic language of a sculpture.
By placing emerging, mid-career and senior artists on the same platform, INNER VISION moves beyond age and artistic categorisation. It creates a space where different experiences and visual languages can coexist and encourage dialogue. The exhibition also reflects Kishore Labar’s continuing effort to bring artists from diverse backgrounds together and strengthen interaction between artists, audiences and the wider cultural community.
INNER VISION is on view from 17 to 21 August 2026, from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM, at the Open Palm Court, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. The exhibition offers visitors an opportunity not only to view works of art, but also to consider the invisible journeys of thought, emotion, memory and imagination that often lie behind them.
