The quiet town of Maihar has come alive this weekend as the second edition of the MAI Festival (Maihar Art Ichol Festival) unfolds at Art Ichol, bringing together artists, musicians, filmmakers, and thinkers for three days of cross-disciplinary exchange.
Conceived as an intimate gathering rather than a spectacle, the festival , running from 20 to 22 February celebrates the intersection of art, film, music, and dialogue amid the serene landscape of Art Ichol, a rural artist residency and cultural initiative. The 2026 edition marks a new milestone with the inauguration of the Arts Ananda Gallery, a permanent exhibition space generously supported by art patron Shobha Bhatia, founder of Gallerie Ganesha, and inaugurated by Ganesh Singh, Hon’ble Member of Parliament.
The festival’s programme opened with the unveiling of Echoes From My Homeland by Veer Munshi, a poignant installation delving into themes of displacement and memory. This was followed by a sculpture reveal by Shilpa Joglekar, whose spatial sensibility and engagement with form anchor the new gallery’s first exhibition.
Cinematic engagement followed with the screening of The Lotus and the Swan, directed by documentary filmmaker Nirmal Chander, which traces the artistic and philosophical journey of potter Sardar Gurcharan Singh — a pioneer in modern Indian ceramics.
Music, long central to Maihar’s identity, resounded through Art Ichol as Shubha Mudgal’s riveting classical recital, accompanied by Aneesh Pradhan on tabla and Sudhir Nayak on harmonium, drew audiences into an evening of layered melody and introspection. The Maihar Band — a living link to the town’s storied musical heritage — will also perform, underscoring the continuing vitality of the region’s gharana tradition.
Meanwhile, the festival’s Dialogues & Curated Conversations segment, titled Many Languages, One Story, will see theatre artist Danish Hussain, actor Anita Kanwal, and sound designer-photographer Nitin Joshi in conversation, moderated by Vandana Malik. The session explores how performance, narrative, and visual storytelling converge to articulate the human condition across disciplines.
Rooted in the ethos of meaningful artistic engagement, the MAI Festival continues to honour Maihar’s cultural legacy while positioning it firmly within the landscape of contemporary practice. The festival’s ambition to bridge rural context and modern expression through reflection, performance, and dialogue shines through every corner of Art Ichol this weekend.
Athmaja Biju is the Editor at Abir Pothi. She is a Translator and Writer working on Visual Culture.
