Sakshi Gallery in Mumbai’s Colaba art district is currently showcasing two significant photographic series by Kerala-based visual artist KR Sunil, exploring marginalized communities and disappearing cultural practices from his home state. Exhibition titled “Thambu—Tales from the Great Indian Circus ” is curated by Birgid Uccia and runs from October 9, 2025 – November 5, 2025
Exhibition Overview
The exhibition features two major bodies of work spanning both floors of the gallery: ‘Thambu—Tales from the Great Indian Circus’ and ‘Chavittu Nadakam—Storytellers of the Seashore’. Both series exemplify Sunil’s documentary approach, combining portraiture with textual narratives to preserve the histories of communities overlooked by official records.
Ground Floor: Tales from the Great Indian Circus
The ground floor displays ‘Thambu—Tales from the Great Indian Circus’, a three-year project comprising 46 black-and-white portraits of circus performers. Each portrait is accompanied by written testimony drawn from Sunil’s interviews with the artists. The series originated from a chance meeting with a circus proprietor and performer.
The portraits document India’s once-thriving circus industry, which included Kamala Circus, formerly the world’s second-largest circus. The subjects, many from Thalassery in Kerala—a historically significant circus hub—now face poverty, marginalization, and in some cases, debilitating injuries. The golden age of Indian circus spanned the 1960s through the late 1980s, before declining due to changing entertainment preferences and legal restrictions.
Complementing the portraits is a selection of archival photographs chosen from over 500 images. These uncredited photographs, preserved in the personal collections of circus artists, document the industry from its peak through its decline.
First Floor: Storytellers of the Seashore
The first floor presents ‘Chavittu Nadakam—Storytellers of the Seashore’, featuring 16 color portraits alongside backstage images. The series documents performers of Chavittu Nadakam, a dance-music-drama tradition dating to Portuguese colonial rule in South India.
Practiced by Dalit and fishing communities converted to Christianity by colonial missionaries, Chavittu Nadakam fuses Kerala’s ancient martial traditions with Renaissance European theatre and music. Sunil’s photographs capture performers in elaborate costumes and ornaments, posed against their modest homes. The images reveal the economic precarity of these coastal communities, whose land is increasingly threatened by rising sea levels.
Artist Background
KR Sunil, based in Kodungallur, Kerala, studied sculpture at Government College of Fine Arts, Thrissur, before transitioning to photography. His practice focuses on communities in transition, particularly in sea and port towns. Previous series include ‘Manchukkar| The Seafarers of Malabar’ and ‘Vanishing Life-Worlds’, which examined the endangered cultures of the historic port town of Ponnani.
The exhibition is curated by Birgid Uccia, founder of Asian Contemporary Fine Arts (ACFA), who holds an MA in Philosophy and History of Art from the University of Zurich.
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