The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) has unveiled Nalini Malani – Of Woman Born, a major site-specific installation presented as an official Collateral Event of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by KNMA’s Artistic Director and Chief Curator Roobina Karode, the exhibition occupies the historic Magazzini del Sale, transforming it into an immersive “memory chamber” of sound, animation, and layered narratives.
An extension of Malani’s ongoing Animation Chamber series, the installation features 67 moving image works composed of over 33,000 iPad drawings. Projected across nine channels onto the salt-encrusted walls, the animations unfold in a dark, cave-like space, accompanied by a haunting 20-minute soundscape. Mythological figures, drifting texts, and spectral forms resist narrative closure, instead evoking a fragmented continuum of past and present.
At its conceptual core, Of Woman Born revisits the Greek myth of Orestes, who kills his mother, Clytemnestra, to avenge his father. Malani reframes the myth through a contemporary feminist lens, interrogating patriarchal violence and the absence of women’s voices in histories of conflict. Rather than resolving the myth, the work foregrounds its afterlives, inviting viewers to engage with silenced narratives of trauma, justice, and accountability.
A recurring motif in the installation is “The Skipping Girl,” a symbol of movement, resilience, and freedom that has long appeared in Malani’s visual language. During the Biennale, this figure extends beyond the exhibition space into the city of Venice through posters, banners, and vaporetto signage. Visitors can follow the motif across the city and access fragments of the artist’s digital animations via QR codes, effectively expanding the installation into a dispersed, interactive experience.
Reflecting on her practice, Malani noted that the urgency of contemporary global crises continues to shape her work. “The daily experiences that are happening in the world make you want to clench your fists… our stories have to be retold, to give us a chance to become a more humane society,” she said.
Kiran Nadar, Founder and Chairperson of KNMA, described Malani as “one of the most vital voices in contemporary art,” emphasizing the museum’s commitment to supporting practices that engage critically with violence, displacement, and gender. Karode further positioned the exhibition within a broader political and curatorial framework, describing it as a “demand” to recognize and center the labour, suffering, and resistance of women.
Malani’s work has long been shaped by histories of displacement and collective trauma, including the aftereffects of the Partition of India and subsequent episodes of communal violence. Her interdisciplinary practice—spanning painting, drawing, video, and digital animation—rejects linear progression in favor of rupture and discontinuity, insisting on art as a site of critical interruption.
Running from May 9 to November 22, 2026, Of Woman Born will be accompanied by a series of public programs, including intergenerational workshops in Venice from August to October. A scholarly catalogue featuring contributions by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Roobina Karode, and Emily Butler will further contextualize Malani’s six-decade-long practice.
The exhibition also marks a continuation of KNMA’s longstanding engagement with the artist, building on earlier retrospectives and international collaborations that have positioned Malani as a leading voice in global contemporary art.
Cover Image: Nalini Malani, Of Woman Born, 2026 | 9 channel iPad Animation Chamber, sound, dimensions variable | Collection – Kiran Nadar Museum of Art | © Nalini Malani
Akanksha is an Associate Editor at Abir Pothi, writing on contemporary art and creating engaging videos that highlight artists and make art accessible to wider audiences.
