Featuring artists: Abela Ruben, Akhilesh, Élodie Alexandre, Aditya Chadar, Purnima Yadhuvanshi, Asma Kazi, Meet Varvada and Vaishali Oak
Ether Project, a nomadic platform dedicated to fostering contemporary art beyond metropolitan centers, presents its latest exhibition Everybody’s Elsewhere, at Devlalikar Kala Vithika, Indore, which previews on 26 September, Friday from 5-8 PM. The show, running until 4 October, brings together eight artists whose practices span painting, ceramics, textiles, and mixed media.
Everybody’s Elsewhere highlights how artists draw from memory, material, and imagination to create works that move between the personal, the cultural, and the speculative. Curated around ideas of displacement, suspended moments, and transformation, the exhibition echoes Ether Project’s commitment to presenting diverse South Asian voices in unconventional ways.
Participating Artists
Élodie Alexandre
French-born artist Élodie Alexandre works across drawing and ceramics, blending intimate handwork with sculptural experimentation. A co-founder of the Andretta-based Atelier Lālmitti, she has exhibited widely in India and abroad, including the Indian Ceramic Triennale and major biennales in Belgium, Jakarta, and the UK. Her practice creates tactile, narrative-driven objects that hold both fragility and intensity.
Akhilesh
A veteran painter born in Indore in 1956, Akhilesh bridges folk traditions from Madhya Pradesh with a contemporary vocabulary. With over 40 solo shows worldwide, his works are part of significant collections such as the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, and the V&A Museum, London. Beyond painting, he has published biographies, translations, and essays, making him a widely regarded figure in both Indian art and literature.
Abela Ruben
Born in 2001, Abela Ruben is among the youngest participants in the show. A recent MFA graduate from MSU Baroda, her paintings dwell on fragmented moments that blur the boundaries between stillness and motion. Drawing on art history, cinema, and lived experience, she constructs evocative compositions that invite viewers into open-ended narratives.
Offerings by Abela Ruben Visible and Invisible 1 by Vaishali Oak
Vaishali Oak
Renowned textile artist Vaishali Oak merges traditional fabric techniques with painterly abstraction. Based in Pune, Oak has exhibited extensively in India and internationally, from Colombia to China. Her works layer textures and colors in ways that recall painting yet remain rooted in textile traditions. She has received major awards for fiber art, including recognition at the From Lausanne to Beijing International Fiber Art Biennale.
Asma Kazi
Based in Pune, Asma Kazi is a self-taught artist whose background in zoology, real estate, and analytics feeds into an intricate visual language. Her works are informed by biomorphic forms, parallel universes, and chaos theory, creating surreal commentary on transformation and organic systems. Active since 2012, Kazi has exhibited internationally in India, the US, and Switzerland, alongside collaborations with publishers, media platforms, and theatre groups.
Purnima Yaduvanshi
Working with dreamlike imagery, Purnima Yaduvanshi creates paintings that weave together distorted landscapes rooted in her hometown of Indore. A graduate of the Government Institute of Fine Arts, Indore, she reimagines land as a dynamic force shaping identities. She has shown at the Kochi-Muziris Student Biennale and exhibitions in Indore, Gwalior, and Bhopal.
Echoes of a shifting realm by Purnima Yaduvanshi | Untitled by Aditya Chadar
Aditya Chadar
Indore-based artist Aditya Chadar explores the movement and density of urban life, capturing crowded spaces while balancing them with compositional order. His works reflect on individuality and collective identity within public settings. Having exhibited at Vadehra Art Gallery and Space 118, Chadar recently held his first solo with Cultivate Art Global at India Design 2025 and has been recognized with the Meera Kala Samman Award.
Meet Varvada
A Baroda-born artist working in Delhi, Meet Varvada experiments with painting and media to investigate contemporary socio-cultural landscapes. A graduate of Shiv Nadar University, he has exhibited at institutions such as Anant Art Gallery, Bikaner House, and the Gujral Foundation’s Art Bloc. His works aim for both conceptual depth and material experimentation, supported by grants from Space 118 Fine Art and Hyundai Motors India Foundation.
About Ether Project
Founded by curator Yash Vikram in 2022, Ether Project moves fluidly across cities and countries to amplify South Asian artists. Positioned as a nomadic and experimental platform, it is dedicated to accessibility, discourse, and the preservation of artistic practices. Through Everybody’s Elsewhere, the initiative furthers its mission of expanding how art is seen and experienced, moving beyond traditional exhibition structures.
Cover Image: The oracle of skin series by Élodie Alexandre | When it could be all green by Akhilesh | Heffalumps and Woozles IV by Asma Kazi
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