The Alipore Museum in collaboration with DAG has unveiled Destination India: Foreign Artists in India 1857–1947, a landmark exhibition exploring how international artists viewed, interpreted, and contributed to the visual narrative of India during a transformative century. The show, which runs from February 28 to May 2, 2026, marks an important cultural event in Kolkata’s art calendar, tracing the crosscurrents of colonialism, travel, and artistic exchange.
The exhibition brings together paintings, drawings, prints, and archival materials by foreign artists who lived or traveled across India between the Revolt of 1857 and Independence in 1947. It showcases works by European, American, and Asian artists who engaged with the subcontinent’s landscapes, people, and spiritual atmosphere—often blending Western academic training with the nuanced observations of Indian life.
Curated by the DAG team in partnership with The Alipore Museum, Destination India encourages viewers to reconsider how “foreign” artists perceived India beyond the exotic lens typically associated with Orientalist art. Instead, the works on display reveal a multiplicity of gazes—touristic, empathetic, documentary, and aesthetic—that contributed to shaping early visual histories of modern India.
Highlights include rare watercolours of colonial Calcutta, travel sketches of hill stations, portraits of princely India, and early lithographs that captured the emerging metropolises. Archival letters and travel diaries further contextualize the artists’ experiences during a period of intense political and cultural transition.
Speaking about the exhibition, DAG’s managing director Ashish Anand noted that the project “revisits a forgotten chapter of art history—how India served as both muse and matrix for creative voices from around the world.” The show also complements DAG’s ongoing effort to document dialogues between Indian and international art traditions.
With its scholarly depth and visual richness, Destination India invites audiences to journey through time, exploring how outsiders once imagined and engaged with a country on the cusp of independence.
Athmaja Biju is the Editor at Abir Pothi. She is a Translator and Writer working on Visual Culture.
