India Art Fair Panel: What Makes Art Happen? - The Public

Supported by JSW and curated by independent researcher and curator, Shaleen Wadhwana, the 2026 Talks Programme– Rising to Challenge, brings together artists, curators, thinkers, and cultural leaders to address the overarching question: What Makes Art Happen? Each panel responds to this question with a “challenge”— from long-standing issues of access, accountability and social difference, to urgent contemporary concerns such as Artificial Intelligence and indigenizing cultural spaces.

All talks are conducted in English and Indian Sign Language (ISL), with some talks in Hindi, Punjabi, Odia, and Saura live translated for the audience.

*Saura (also known as Soura or Sora) is recognised as one of the oldest Indigenous languages of the Indian subcontinent

THEMATIC PREMISE

Art is the capsule that documents time as it happens. From popular cultural moments to nuanced alternate commentaries of our time —art and culture in the form of stories, curriculum, films, exhibitions and artworks outlives us all because it is seen and viewed by people of its time. In this process of seeing and viewing, audiences visit, dream, engage with, think about art – making sure that this engagement between culture and the public continues to make art relevant, topical and urgent.

Hence, in this panel, we concentrate on those cultural leaders that work with public spaces and advocate to bring the public in – as part of their practice as well as institution. We aim to understand the challenges and triumphs of ensuring how to make sure that the public remains at the center of how culture and art shape themselves.