Contemporary Now Edition III Highlights
Chennai, July 2026: From August 8–25, 2026, Chennai will become a thriving centre for contemporary art with the return of Contemporary Now Edition III. The event brings together 66 artists, seven galleries, more than 10 venues and over 15 public programmes across the city. Anchored at the Lalit Kala Akademi, the festival also includes talks, artist walkthroughs, workshops, open houses and special presentations.
Official website: https://www.contemporarynow.in/
Originally conceived as a platform for discussion and exchange, Contemporary Now has grown into a collaborative event connecting artists, galleries and audiences. This year’s edition is its largest yet. It occupies two floors of the Lalit Kala Akademi while extending into cultural venues across Chennai.
Theme of Contemporary Now Edition III
The central theme, “Practices in Continuum: Tracing the Present,” views contemporary art as an evolving process. Instead of presenting isolated works, the exhibition explores memory, migration, ecology, identity, politics, language and lived experience.
Participating galleries include Ashvita’s, Chemould Prescott Road, Chatterjee & Lal, Experimenter, Project 88, TARQ and Vadehra Art Gallery.
The curatorial remark that accompanies it challenges viewers to see artworks as more than isolated pieces. Rather, it places each piece in the larger context of an artist’s developing career and the gallery’s long-term curatorial goals. According to the exhibition, acquiring contemporary art also entails engaging with concepts and modes of thought that characterise the present.
Priyanjoli Basu, Director of Contemporary Now, characterises the exhibition as “not only an exhibition; it is a learning structure,” reflecting this vision and encouraging visitors to progress from the gallery program to the artist’s voice, from the artist’s voice to the artwork, and finally to the wider world it reflects.
Citywide Programme and Participating Artists
Beyond the main exhibition, Contemporary Now Edition III offers a citywide programme. Highlights include Continuiverse by C. Krishnaswamy, Dialogue with Nature by the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation and WWF-India, George K.’s I Have a Dream, Gallery Veda’s Madras Abstraction, Apparao Galleries’ Masters in Madras, and K. Benitha Perciyal’s artist walkthrough.
The event also features discussions on public and private patronage, South India’s role in contemporary art, and the growing importance of photobooks as artistic and archival practices.
The exhibition features 66 artists from India and abroad. They include Anita Dube, Anju Dodiya, Atul Dodiya, Aziz Hazara, Dhruvi Acharya, Jitish Kallat, Mithu Sen, N.S. Harsha, Nikhil Chopra, Raqs Media Collective, Reena Saini Kallat, Shakuntala Kulkarni, and Thukral & Tagra.
Exhibition Overview
Contemporary Now Edition III positions Chennai as a major destination for contemporary art this August. The expanded programme combines exhibitions, talks, workshops and artist-led interactions. Rather than simply presenting artworks, it encourages visitors to engage with the ideas, histories and practices that continue to shape the present.
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