A new exhibition at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) museum is making history as the first to examine the artistic relationship between Indian and Arab Modernism. The exhibition, titled "Resonant Histories," runs until February 16, 2026, and features more than 40 works on loan from the Sharjah-based Barjeel Art Foundation, paired with Indian artworks from the city's Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (JNAF).
The exhibition's curators have designed the show to highlight previously unrecognized visual connections between Indian and Arab artists who were influenced by similar aesthetic and ideological movements during the colonial and post-colonial periods. For example, the captivating, mountainous faces painted by Syrian artist Marwan Kassab-Bachi share striking similarities with the ghostly heads created by celebrated Bombay master Francis Newton Souza, as both artists independently explored similar artistic truths.
The opening section of the exhibition, called "Visions of Freedom," showcases how artists and intellectuals from both regions confronted the complex realities of liberation in a world divided by colonial powers. Bold black drawings by socialist painter Chittaprosad Bhattacharya powerfully depict the new citizens of independent India dying of hunger on streets built with the wealth extracted during empire. These works are displayed alongside a dark, brooding canvas painted in green oil so deep it appears almost black, which portrays the brutal 1971 Indo-Pakistan war by Indian artist Krishen Khanna.
Khanna, who grew up in what is now Pakistan and recently celebrated his 100th birthday in New Delhi this year, represents the personal stories of displacement and conflict that define this era. A centenary exhibition of his work is currently being shown at the nearby National Gallery of Modern Art Mumbai. His works engage in visual dialogue with paintings such as "Waiting," a 1970 canvas by Syrian painter Abdul Qader Al Rais that depicts the suspended lives of the Middle East's millions of perpetual refugees, and "Al Fiddaiyoun" (1969) by Syrian artist Naim Ismail, where Palestinian guerrilla keffiyehs form geometric patterns across the canvas.
According to Barjeel curator Suheyla Takesh, these artworks remain just as relevant to contemporary global conflicts and displacement. The exhibition also reveals evidence of direct cultural exchange between artists from vastly different backgrounds, particularly within the cultural framework of the Non-Aligned Movement. This movement, founded during the collapse of the colonial system to address independence struggles across Africa, Asia, and beyond, facilitated travel and artistic exchange that allowed Arab artists to visit India and absorb the aesthetic traditions of the subcontinent.
This cross-cultural influence resulted in works like "The Lotus Girl" (1955), in which Egyptian artist Nazek Hamdi adapted the visual language of Bengali folk art. "We put works from the Bengal School next to Hamdi, because the look and subject matter are strikingly similar," explains JNAF director Puja Vaish. "We wanted to create an art historical discourse through this exhibition."
Vaish acknowledges that when the exhibition planning began, there wasn't much existing scholarship to build upon. "So we see this exhibition as a starting point for further research," she says. "This is how a lot of art history or collections are built—you give a single example and that opens up a gateway for more work to be done. We hope that is the sort of synergy that will be created."
While "Resonant Histories" makes a strong beginning in creating this artistic dialogue, the exhibition's scope suggests room for expansion. A truly comprehensive regional exhibition would benefit from including works by South Asian artists from outside India. For instance, Ismail's 1969 "Al Fiddaiyoun" could be displayed alongside works from the same year by Pakistani and Bangladeshi artist Zainul Abedin, who toured Palestine, Syria, and Jordan at the invitation of the Arab League.
Abedin's watercolor sketches from his "Freedom Fighter" series capture the same raw energy and dynamism, with figures and shapes expressing the struggle for liberation across the page. Abedin later applied the same visual vocabulary he had developed in Palestine to his work documenting his native Bengal, which by that time was experiencing its own liberation struggle. This connection serves as a powerful reminder that in post-colonial societies, it is not only the art that creates resonance, but the shared experiences of struggle and independence that continue to shape cultural expression across borders.
