Posted on 2 August 2025:
MOTHERING: A Radical Reimagining of Care and Kinship at Vida Heydari Contemporary
AT VIDA HEYDARI CONTEMPORARY (VHC), PUNE’S INTERNATIONAL ART GALLERY, MOTHERING EMERGES AS A POWERFUL GROUP EXHIBITION THAT CELEBRATES NURTURING, RESILIENCE AND IDENTITY.
Featuring poignant works by artists from the Aravani Art Project—Chathuri Nissansala, Liactuallee, Roghayeh Najdi and Shivangi Ladha—the show reimagines “mothering” not as a fixed role, but as a fluid, radical act of holding, healing and becoming.
As the press release affirms, the exhibition redefines – “mothering as a radical, expansive act of care, resilience and kinship —expanding beyond biological ties. ‘Mother’ holds multitudes; it becomes both noun and verb: a doing, a becoming, a holding together. This exhibition explores how alternative forms of mothering—within queer subcultures, matriarchal lineages, and chosen families—flourish at the peripheries of dominant social structures“.
The exhibition opens with a special preview on Saturday, 2 August 2025, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at Vida Heydari Contemporary (VHC) Pune, and continues through 5 September 2025.
Aravani Art Project’s Journey from Silence to Celebration
Founded in 2016, the Aravani Art Project is a vibrant collective that empowers the Transgender community through public art and social transformation. Beginning in Bangalore and now active across Mumbai and Chennai, Aravani creates safe spaces for voices often silenced—painting stories of resilience on city walls and reclaiming streets where Trans bodies have long faced violence and neglect. Their work blends history, healing and activism, turning lived experience into powerful murals that speak to inclusion and hope. With a team of cis and trans women, the collective has grown from local movements to global recognition, including their debut solo show On The Cusp Of The Eighth Day in Mumbai and participation in the 2024 Venice Art Biennale. From Endrendrum Penmai in Chennai, Me/We Project with St+Art India Foundation at Dharavi, Mumbai (2020), One for All for Levi’s India in Bangalore (2019) to Trans Lives Matter in Delhi, Aravani’s art is a bold, beautiful declaration: we belong.
Mothering as Radical Kinship
In Mothering, care becomes a quiet revolution. This intimate curatorial gathering—featuring Aravani Art Project, internationally acclaimed artists Chathuri Nissansala, Liactuallee, Roghayeh Najdi and Shivangi Ladha—reimagines mothering beyond biology, as a practice of chosen kinship, resilience and collective healing.
Born in Colombo in 1993, Chathuri Nissansala is a multidisciplinary artist whose work moves across performance, painting, sculpture and graphic art—each medium a vessel for exploring gender, class, queerness and nationalism in Sri Lanka.
With a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from Chitra Kala Parishath, Bengaluru, and a Master’s in Visual Arts from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Chathuri Nissansala’s practice is both deeply personal and politically charged.
Her solo exhibitions, including ‘Ritualizing Mutant Encounters’ and ‘Ritualizing the Disfigured’, offer memorials of healing and transformation. Through group shows like This Land is Not Mine, Mother! and Way of the Forest, and international platforms such as Queernocopia and Momentum of Smell, Chathuri Nissansala continues to shape a language of resistance and remembrance—where art becomes ritual, and identity, a living archive.
Chathuri Nissansala, a Colombo-based artist and Commonwealth Scholar, weaves powerful stories through performance, textiles and visual art. Winner of the Prince Claus Seed Award and a nominee for The Emerging Artist Award in London, she brings deep insight to themes of gender and identity. As co-founder of KAGUL, she uplifts queer voices and rural women through Sri Lanka’s textile traditions. Now an artist-in-residence at Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, Chathuri Nissansala continues to shape spaces of healing, dialogue, and transformation.
Artist Liactuallee, born in Sharjah and now based in Mumbai, creates art that feels like a dream woven from nature’s forgotten corners. Liactuallee graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and earned a postgraduate diploma in Aesthetics, Criticism and Theory from Jnanapravaha, Mumbai.
With roots in fine arts and critical theory, their work blends ecological fiction, fluid forms and spontaneous landscapes to imagine worlds beyond the ordinary. Liactuallee have participated in many Group and Solo exhibitions, artist residencies, such as Hampi Art Labs (2024), Space 118 Mumbai, and Space Studio Baroda (2022). Liactuallee was recently an artist-in-residence for India Art Fair 2025.
From ‘Soft Invasions’ in Mumbai to ‘Tree Clocks’ in Minnesota, and outdoor installations like Transmutations at the Museum of Solutions, Liactuallee’s practice is a gentle rebellion—inviting us to rethink how we see, feel and belong. Liactuallee lives and works in Mumbai, India.
Artist Roghayeh Najdi, born in Tabriz, Iran, paints from the silence that surrounds Iranian women. Her art, shaped by traditional painting at Tabriz University, Iran and later with deep research, moves through surreal spaces where memory and absence speak louder than form. In her world, women appear as shadows—delicate, de-identified, yet hauntingly present—echoing the quiet resistance against erasure. From ‘Crossing the Shadows’ in Tehran to ‘ I AM NOT WHAT YOU SEE OF ME’ in Paris, Najdi’s work is a mirror to a society that hides its truths, and a voice for those who remain unseen.She has held several exhibitions internationally, and lives and works in Tabriz, Iran.
Artist Shivangi Ladha, born in India and now based in London, creates delicate prints that speak of unity in a divided world. Trained in painting and printmaking across Delhi and London, her works on paper gently unravel the barriers of caste, class, and gender—imagining new ways of belonging. From ‘Gold/Silver’ in Spain to ‘Nabha Sparsh’ in New Delhi, her exhibitions trace a quiet strength. Through residencies in Barcelona, New York, and Canada, and many awards from Norway to India, Ladha’s art continues to echo with grace, precision, and a deep longing for togetherness. She currently lives and works in London.
Vida Heydari Contemporary: A Living Canvas of Vision and Voice
Founded in 2020 by the visionary curator Vida Heydari, VHC is not just a gallery—it’s a sanctuary for bold ideas and untold stories. With nearly two decades of global experience, Heydari brings a curatorial clarity that celebrates the fusion of Eastern and Western artistic influences.
In just a few years, VHC has transformed Pune’s cultural landscape, hosting museum-quality exhibitions, engaging in global art fairs like Art Basel Hong Kong and India Art Fair and nurturing under-represented voices. With a deep commitment to authenticity and innovation, VHC showcases contemporary art across mediums, nurturing both emerging and established artists.
Through talks, performances and workshops, VHC continues to shape a space where authenticity meets imagination.
