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Vibha Galhotra

Vibha Galhotra is an Indian conceptual artist whose practice deals with the human relationship with the environment — their interdependence and antagonism. She explores the irony of human behaviour which destroys the very source which sustains it in the first place. Galhotra’s works in varied mediums through photography, animation, found object, performative objects, installation and sculpture to create experiential spaces and her large-scale sculptures address the shifting topography of the world under the impact of globalisation and “growth”. She sees herself as being part of the restructuring of culture, society and geography — local, and the world. With her process and research-based practice, she responds to the rapid environmental changes and re-zoning of land. Her work crosses the dimensions of art, ecology, economy, science, spirituality and activism. 

Galhotra believes that it is essential to question the role of art in the current state of the world, where we are increasingly confronting critical and interconnected challenges: climate change; discrimination on gender, colour and caste; the unequal status of the first and the third world; the refugee crisis; food scarcity; systemic collapse; and constant social transformation.

A recipient of the prestigious Asia Art Game changer Award-2019, Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio residency in 2016 and an Asian Cultural Council fellowship in the US, 2017, Galhotra has been honoured with several other awards including the National Award for Printmaking, Lalit Kala Akademi, National Academy of Art India in 1998; the National Scholarship, Ministry of Culture, Government of India in 2003; and the INLAKS India Scholarship in 2004. Her work has been included in many important publications, including The Word is Art (2018), authored by artist and curator Michael Petry, and Exploring the Invisible: Art, Science, and the Spiritual (2005) authored by Lynn Gamwell, among others.

In addition to her numerous solo exhibitions and curated projects at several international museums and institutions, Galhotra’s work is prized in many private and public collections worldwide. The artist lives and works in Delhi.