Posted on 17 January 2026:
“WHAT SURFACE REMEMBERS” OPENS AT VIDA HEYDARI CONTEMPORARY (VHC) PUNE. WHERE MEMORY MEETS SURFACE, RAVI MORYA’S ART TRANSFORMS URBAN SCARS INTO MEDITATIVE ECHOES—AN INTIMATE ARCHIVE OF TIME AND BEING
What Surface Remembers – Ravi Morya’s Solo Exhibition at Vida Heydari Contemporary
Vida Heydari Contemporary presents What Surface Remembers –a solo exhibition by Ravi Morya, unfolding between 17 January and 21 February 2026.
Opening on Saturday, 17 January 2026, from 7:00 – 9:00 PM, the exhibition invites viewers into renowned artist Ravi Morya’s layered world where the city itself becomes both subject and archive.
Rooted in the historic textures of Gwalior and shaped by Delhi’s restless transformations, Ravi Morya’s canvases emerge as living palimpsests—absorbing scars, repairs and fleeting gestures of urban memory. Through processes of collage, erasure, and repetition, chaotic surfaces of cracked walls, tangled wires and relentless construction are reimagined as meditative acts of tearing, scraping and rebuilding. Each work transforms disorder into quiet contemplation, offering viewers a profound reflection on how cities remember and how surfaces speak.
The preview of What Surface Remembers opens on Saturday, 17 January 2026, 7:00–9:00 PM at VHC | Vida Heydari Contemporary. Artist Ravi Morya will be present, guiding audiences into this contemplative journey.
Ravi Morya – Tracing Memory Through Repetition
Born in 1992 in Gwalior, India, Ravi Morya pursued his BFA in Painting at RMT University (2015). Within his practice, repetition becomes a profound language—motifs, gestures, and layered processes unfolding as meditations on collective consciousness and the nature of being. His canvases resonate with echoes of memory, transforming recurrence into revelation.
Morya’s works have been showcased in numerous solo and group exhibitions across India, including the Art Incept Grant Show, CIMA Annual Exhibition, and Birla Academy, Kolkata. A recipient of the Young Artist Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, he has also been honored with awards such as the Prafulla Dhanukar Art Award, CIMA Award, Madhya Pradesh State Award, and the All India Art Award from the State Gallery of Art, Hyderabad. He currently lives and works in New Delhi, continuing to shape a practice that bridges memory, repetition and human experience.
Vida Heydari Contemporary – A Global Voice in Pune
Founded in 2020, Vida Heydari Contemporary (VHC) has quickly emerged as an international platform for contemporary art, uniting established and emerging voices across diverse mediums. In just a few years, it has become a vital space where authenticity and innovation converge—mounting significant exhibitions, participating in prestigious fairs like Art Basel Hong Kong, India Art Fair and Art Mumbai, and enriching Pune’s cultural fabric through talks, performances, and workshops.
What Surface Remembers opens at Vida Heydari Contemporary on 17 January 2026, 7–9 pm.
