Dr. Rahul Dev
Historia Denaturalis is an engaging title for a recent exhibition at Gallery Espace, New Delhi. Curated by Damian Christinger, a Zurich-based independent curator, the show highlights Ravi Agarwal’s extensive body of work on ecological issues in contemporary art, including photojournalism, artistic research, new installation forms, photo performance, and activism. Agarwal explores the asymmetric connections among the environment, caste, dehumanizing labor, and ecological threats to communities. My familiarity with Agarwal’s work began at JNU in 2004, when I was involved in a “Self x Social,” a curatorial project with Geeta Kapur, a renowned art critic and curator.
It continued with the inclusion of his photographic works in the 2016 Bodhgaya Biennale, which I co-curated. Subsequently, my recent research on Documenta deepened my understanding of his practice. Notably, I observed that Documenta 11 (2002), directed by Okwui Enwezor (1963-2019), a Nigerian curator and educator, was a groundbreaking exhibition in the history of contemporary art, featuring five distinct platforms staged worldwide and marking a pivotal moment in Agarwal’s career. These developments together illustrate how Agarwal’s early photojournalism reveals the realities of dehumanized labor excluded from citizenship. Through these works, he brings such realities to international audiences, exposing flows of global capitalism, as seen in “Labouring Under Global Capitalism” (2000). Additionally, he highlights ongoing ecological destruction for a global viewership. In 1996, Agarwal founded Toxics Link, a community-driven organization that specializes in collecting and sharing scientific data on urban waste management.
Building on the exhibition’s overarching theme, Historia Denaturalis explores various ecological and environmental issues along with their artistic and scholarly importance. From a curatorial perspective, the exhibition reinterprets Agarwal’s long-standing environmental work through a new conceptual lens: denaturalized history. This serves as a counterarchive to the Historia Naturalis. The title refers to a major treatise by Pliny the Elder (AD 23/24 – AD 79), a Roman author, naturalist, and scientist. Pliny’s Historia Naturalis consists of 37 volumes that delve into human knowledge and the natural world. Ultimately, it inspired the creation of encyclopedias. By referencing Pliny, the exhibition emphasizes its core idea, encouraging viewers to reflect on how species, plants, and animals are classified within Enlightenment knowledge systems. The mention of Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) is one example of this. Linnaeus—also known as Carl von Linné or Carolus Linnaeus—is considered the Father of Taxonomy from Sweden. Although his system has evolved, Agarwal’s exhibition questions such frameworks. Later scientists, including critics of Linnaeus’s ideas, continued to use these classifications—sometimes employing them as tools for colonization and the domination of land, nature, and people.
As visitors enter the gallery, they immediately notice the panels “Nature-Culture (2026)” and “Dystopic Connection (2026).” These feature digital prints on archival paper. In these works, Agarwal explores broader theoretical issues in science studies, feminist theory, anthropology, and the environmental humanities. He questions the ontological divides between nature and culture and between humans and the nonhuman. Supporting these ideas, a meaningful conversation between Christinger and Agarwal on “Why Looking At Animals” by John Berger provides strong context for the exhibition. They discuss how humans have developed an industrialized society. Animals have moved from the center of life—farming and work—to the margins as pets or commodities. As a result of this shift, the zoo in every city becomes a “living monument to their own disappearance.” To further illustrate this, Agarwal shares an example from his experience in Bishnoi village in Barmer, Rajasthan. He closely examines the relationship between villagers and deer species within the culture. This interaction is depicted in one of the archival prints, which references puranic and popular folktales about the Bishnoi community.
Placed alongside the natural history gallery, as shown in the next archival print, it becomes clear that humans can no longer meet the animals’ gaze. Instead, they see only sad, artificial specimens. Ultimately, the exhibit prompts the question: In modern society, do we replace the “real” animal with ubiquitous, toy-like figures? Or do we substitute them with animals displayed in dioramas in natural history museums, if not necessarily equating them as family-like human beings, reflecting our emotional loss?
Created by the artist for the LED installation “Do I See You? How Do You See Me? (2026),” this piece explores a new form of experimentation. Suspended from the basement ceiling, it catches the eye. This approach reflects Agarwal’s core philosophy: understanding subjects—whether laborers, fishermen, artisans, animals, or plants. The work also demonstrates a research-oriented method; in this show, artworks are accompanied by recordings of interviews and publications. For example, the show includes insights from the natural history museum’s curators at CSMVS, Mumbai, Dilip Ranade and Manoj Chaudhary, who discuss diorama installations and the ecological damage caused by pesticides such as arsenic. In the basement, research-based works examine the cultural histories of glaciers and the complex interactions of genetics, geology, and politics that influence the evolution of Ganges and Indus river dolphins.
Heavily relying on this research-driven approach, the collaborative project “Yech’n Time (2024)” with Paulina Lopez and Professor Oscar Aguilera in Chile exemplifies Agarwal’s dedication to exploring glacial landscapes as cultural and mythological sites. The installation includes videos, maps, and photographs to document these interactions. Nearby exhibits, such as the study of cocoa’s colonial history and “Redemption/Homage (2023),” a kind of moving performance photograph, highlight how cross-cultural and personal stories influence Agarwal’s art and aesthetic through genuine self-reflection, an act of homage, and a search for redemption in our ongoing colonization of nature. The “Immersion/Emergence series (2006)” deepens this connection, with photographs like “Shroud: self-portrait,” which reflect the artist’s engagement with the Yamuna River as a timeless and healing force described in Hindu mythology, as well as themes of immortality, rebirth, and death.
Recently, we observed how Agarwal’s curatorial practice—exploring multipolar connections among Dalit labor, race, indigeneity, queer issues, and environmental concerns—shapes his work and art practice. This influence is especially evident in this exhibition, particularly in the triptych on archival print titled “I am leather- I am cotton (2024).” This experimental piece serves as a performative gesture. While Agarwal does not claim personal experience of caste or racial oppression, his aesthetic draws from Mukul Sharma’s research in environmental history. Sharma examines African-American communities (also called Global Black Ecologies) to highlight alternative approaches to environmentalism that relate to or merge into the ideas in Dalit Ecologies (2024). Through the lenses of caste and race, Agarwal explores themes such as justice, rights, access to resources, alienation, oppression, and social protest. These themes underscore the ecological burdens imposed by hierarchical systems. Referencing Om Prakash Valmiki’s emotionally powerful literary work, Joothan, adds a deeper impact on viewers’ consciences.
The show highlights several issues: casteism, naturalism, the tension between nature and culture, and ecological ethics—all interconnected within the ecological crisis. This crisis unintentionally shifts the burden of classification onto colonized populations, a pattern that continues today, especially in the Global South, amid multiple crises during an ongoing war between a few nuclear-armed, powerful nations in the Middle East and the Gulf. In the Indian context, ironies become clear, as seen in the case of the Bishnoi community, whose life is supported by religious (puranic) texts that promote harmony between humans and animals, illustrating a symbiotic relationship between nature and culture. Meanwhile, in reality, marginalized Dalits and lower castes face harsher treatment than animals, as evidenced by the mistreatment or lynching of certain communities in the name of ‘cow protection,’ based on religious sanctions, and in some cases, being denied essentials like water and basic food.
Perhaps the exhibition highlights a tendency to bolster a specific kind of environmental civil society activism, which is coming together despite diverse and sometimes conflicting perspectives and interests. It is grounded in a philosophical stance that rejects the dualistic assumptions of the European Enlightenment, such as the separation of God and the world, subject and object, and humans and nature. In some ways, Agarwal’s dedication and efforts to address current ecological issues are deeply political and economic, requiring a cultural shift that will take time. Long-term commitment is crucial, not only from artists and curators but also from engaged audiences.
Dr. Rahul Dev is a researcher based in New Delhi and recently served as a Goethe-Institut Fellow at the documenta Archiv in Kassel, Germany. He teaches history of art, theory, and German, and his research interests include German studies, discourses on transcultural exhibitions, and subaltern and marginal aesthetics.
Cover Image: “Nature-Culture,” Digital print on archival paper, “Dystopic Connection,” Digital print on archival paper & “Immersion. Emergence” (Source: Gallery Espace).
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