After a six-year absence, India is set to participate in the 2026 Venice Biennale with a national pavilion dedicated to tribal and Indigenous artistic traditions. The announcement was made on by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, India’s Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, during a national conference on tribal arts held at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.
The Indian contingent will feature select works from “Silent Conversation: From Margins to the Centre,” an annual tribal art exhibition organized by the Sankala Foundation, a non-profit sustainability organization. The exhibition, now in its fourth edition, showcases artworks by emerging Indigenous artists from across India’s tribal communities and forest-dwelling populations.
India’s Intermittent Biennale Presence
India’s return to Venice marks only its third pavilion appearance at the 130-year-old international art exhibition. The country previously staged national pavilions in 2011, when it made its debut, and in 2019, when it presented a Gandhi-centered exhibition titled “Our Time for a Future Caring.” This limited presence reflects what cultural observers have described as inconsistent government support and administrative challenges, despite India’s growing prominence in the contemporary art world.
However, Indian artists have maintained visibility at the Biennale through other channels. In 2024, curator Adriano Pedrosa’s main exhibition—titled “Foreigners Everywhere”—included 12 Indian artists, the highest number ever featured in the central pavilion. The artists represented ranged from modernist masters like SH Raza and Amrita Sher-Gil to contemporary collectives such as the Aravani Art Project.
Foregrounding Tribal Artists
The 2026 pavilion represents a strategic shift in how India positions itself on the global art stage. Instead of featuring established or deceased modernists, the government is elevating emerging tribal artists, emphasizing their role as custodians of India’s environmental and cultural heritage. Shekhawat stated that tribal communities possess invaluable conservation knowledge and deserve international recognition for their cultural contributions.
“Silent Conversation: From Margins to the Centre” serves as the source material for this initiative. The 2025 edition brought together over 50 tribal artists from 17 states across more than 30 tiger reserves, displaying approximately 250 artworks and crafts. The exhibition showcases traditional art forms including Gond, Warli, and Saura painting traditions. The works address themes of environmental conservation, forest-dwelling communities’ relationships with nature, and sustainable livelihoods.
Institutional Architecture and Partnerships
The exhibition is organized by the Sankala Foundation in partnership with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Sankala, established in 2022, focuses on sustainability and supporting vulnerable communities, with a particular emphasis on linking cultural heritage to livelihood opportunities.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s decision to integrate tribal art into the national pavilion aligns with the government’s “Orange Economy” initiative, which aims to derive economic and cultural value from the creative arts while supporting artisan communities.
Public-Private Sector Dynamics
The announcement underscores an evolving relationship between India’s public and private cultural sectors. Historically, private institutions and collectors have led efforts to promote Indian art internationally. The 2019 Venice pavilion, for instance, was substantially funded by Kiran Nadar of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, whose personal contribution exceeded the government’s allocation by approximately three times. The 2026 pavilion represents greater alignment between public cultural institutions and private cultural actors in advancing India’s artistic representation.
India’s participation in the 2026 Venice Biennale signals renewed government commitment to international cultural diplomacy and recognition of India’s artistic diversity at a global platform. The inclusion of tribal artists marks a significant departure from previous exhibitions, positioning historically marginalized voices at the center of India’s international cultural narrative.
Cover image: Installation view of JITISH KALLAT’s Covering Letter, 2012, fog screen projection, dimensions variable, at the Venice Biennale, 2019. Photo by Thierry Bal. Courtesy the artist and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi.
Athmaja Biju is the Editor at Abir Pothi. She is a Translator and Writer working on Visual Culture.
