Posted on 28 August 2025:

Thy Fearful Symmetry: Kannu Behera’s Tiger Comes Alive in Art and Dance

In a riveting confluence of myth, movement and brushstroke, Thy Fearful Symmetry—a solo exhibition by renowned artist Kannu Behera curated by Johny ML—unfolds at the Open Palm Court Gallery, India Habitat Centre (IHC), New Delhi, from September 19–25, 2025.

Anchored by Behera’s electrifying tiger imagery, the exhibition transcends canvas to embody Odisha’s Bagha Nacha traditions, inviting viewers into a visceral dialogue between performance and painting.

Highlights include Dr. Dilip Tripathy’s historical insights, a showcase of four traditional tiger dances, and a thought-provoking conversation between the artist and curator titled, Can the Tiger Speak?

This immersive experience celebrates the tiger not just as a symbol, but as a living, breathing force of cultural memory and artistic expression.

From Predator to Performance: The Sacred Evolution of Tiger Dance

Rooted in primal memory and transformed through centuries of cultural reverence, the Tiger Dance emerges as a ritual that transcends its violent origins.

“Tiger dance is an aesthetic trope for Behera. Tiger dance and dancers make the major backdrop of his paintings. The foreground of the paintings are filled with other mundane activities. It is a way to establish and declare the artist’s adherence to his cultural roots. These roots are meant to unite larger populations from elsewhere, who also share the spirit of identical rituals,” says Johny ML

“Tiger Dance originates from the early memories of hunting. Tigers are taboos and have become sacred animals through various processes of cultural appropriation,” reflects renowned curator Johny ML.

What once echoed the gore of survival now pulses with aesthetic grace, embodying the journey of hunting tribes as they transitioned into agrarian life. These performances are not mere spectacles—they are living archives of transformation, where the feared becomes revered, and movement becomes memory.

In a time of growing man-animal conflict, Kannu Behera’s art reminds us that coexistence is not a choice—it is a cultural necessity.

His anthropomorphic visions bridge ancient wisdom and AI-driven urbanity, becoming visual memorials to our shared consciousness with the natural world.

Rooted in Ritual: Behera’s Visual Language of Belonging

Kannu Behera’s canvases pulse with conviction—each stroke a testament to his unwavering aesthetic vision shaped over years of introspection and cultural immersion.

At the heart of his compositions lies the Tiger Dance, not merely as motif but as metaphor: dancers in vibrant motion form the backdrop, while the foreground hums with scenes of everyday life. This juxtaposition, as renowned curator Johny ML observes, is Behera’s way of declaring allegiance to his ancestral rhythms. His art becomes a bridge—uniting distant communities through shared ritual memory, and inviting viewers to rediscover the sacred in the ordinary.

In the Grip of the Tiger: A Vow Etched in Trance and Paint

Kanha Behera’s journey as an artist began not with a brush, but with a roar. As a high school student, his embodiment of the tiger in ritual dance was so fierce, so untamed, that it took many to contain his wild energy.

One day, clad in his tiger costume, he vanished into the forest—only to be found days later in a trance beneath the temple skies. That moment of spiritual surrender became a turning point: Behera vowed never to abandon the spirit of the tiger. This vow now pulses through his art, shaped by formal training at Khallikott Fine Arts College and Khairagargh University. Since arriving in Delhi in 2018, Behera has carved a distinct space in the contemporary art world, his canvases echoing the primal, the sacred, and the deeply personal.

Echoes in Ink and Rhythm: Behera’s Expansive Ode to the Tiger

Kannu Behera’s creative universe extends beyond canvas into the tactile depths of printmaking, where woodcut remains his favored medium—its raw textures echoing the primal pulse of his tiger motifs. Etching prints add further nuance to his visual vocabulary, each line a whisper of ritual and memory. Tigers remain central to his artistic cosmos, not only as painted forms but as living traditions meticulously documented through photo and video.

This solo exhibition brings those traditions to life, featuring an authentic Bagha Naatch performance by Odisha’s dancers and village percussionists.

Scholar Dr. Dilip Tripathy will illuminate the historical layers of this art form, while the exhibition culminates in a reflective dialogue between Behera and curator Johny ML—a conversation that promises to deepen the resonance between image, movement, and meaning.