Nalini Malani

Statement

Nalini Malani, widely recognized as a pioneer of video art in India, has built a distinguished, fifty-year career spanning multiple mediums, including film, photography, painting, wall drawings and erasure performances, theater, animation, and video and shadow plays. An artist and social activist, Malani uses her work to give voice to the marginalized, drawing from history, cultural narratives, and her personal experience with the Partition of India to address themes like violence, feminism, politics, racial tensions, and social inequality, often focusing on the repressive nature of state power.

After graduating from the Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay in 1969, she received a French Government Scholarship to study in Paris from 1970 to 1972. Her early work was in film and photography, but in the late 1980s, she moved beyond traditional painting to engage a broader audience, using her art as a form of protest against rising political orthodoxy. Known as one of India’s leading experimental artists, Malani challenges established iconographies and cultural stereotypes, often adopting an urban, international perspective that condemns exploitative nationalism. Her unflinching commitment to addressing social issues has made her an influential figure for younger artists across the subcontinent.

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