Dhoomimal Gallery, one of Delhi’s oldest and most respected art spaces, is currently hosting Ski(e)n: Re-membering through Performance and Thread, an exhibition of works by Royal College of Art (RCA) alumni Abhijna Vemuru Kasa and Insha Manzoor, curated by Jyoti A Kathpalia. The exhibition opened on 5 December 2025, inaugurated by Shri Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and runs till 10 January 2026 at G-42, Connaught Place, New Delhi.
The show brings together two distinct yet resonant artistic practices exploring selfhood, memory, and gender through evolving material and performative vocabularies. Both artists, though rooted in their regional identities—Kasa from Hyderabad and San Francisco, and Manzoor from Kashmir, examine the role of cultural memory, craft, and the body in articulating identity within contemporary contexts.
Abhijna Vemuru Kasa’s work interrogates restrictive gender norms and inherited traditions that essentialise women. Drawing on local myths and stories, she reconfigures them to construct more authentic representations of the feminine experience, particularly engaging with themes of post-partum identity and emotional continuity.
Insha Manzoor’s practice foregrounds traditional Kashmiri craft forms such as weaving and embroidery as metaphors for intergenerational care and survival. Her works extend these mediums into contemporary forms, positioning thread and tactile media as anchors of stability amid geopolitical tension.
Curator Jyoti A Kathpalia frames the exhibition as an exploration of the gender-inscribed body and of art as a process of recuperation—recovering connections between the individual and her surrounding cultural and ecological landscape. The dialogue between skin and skein serves as a layered metaphor for both the body’s surface and the woven fabric of cultural memory.
Featuring diverse media, ranging from oils, acrylics, and textiles to installations, new media, and performance-based photography, the exhibition transforms surfaces into sites of memory and reconstruction. Through performance, digital documentation, and immersive installations, both artists challenge conventional visual forms, merging craft techniques with technologies of the contemporary.
Director Uday Jain describes the participating artists as possessing “a distinct international outlook while being deeply rooted in their respective cultures,” noting that this duality lends their work “a rare individuality and uniqueness.”
The exhibition “Ski(e)n: Re-membering through Performance and Thread” runs until 10 January 2026, accompanied by curatorial walks and art talks at Dhoomimal Gallery.
Cover image: Abhijna Vemuru Kasa | La Perla Underwear | Oil on canvas | 76 x 82 inches | 2021
Athmaja Biju is the Editor at Abir Pothi. She is a Translator and Writer working on Visual Culture.
