66 artists, 10 venues: Contemporary Now art festival wraps up third edition in Chennai
In this photo essay, we showcase highlights from this outstanding arts festival in Chennai, along with curator insights.
Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 1,010 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
The art festival aptly titled 'Contemporary Now' wrapped up its third edition this week in Chennai. Spread across 10 venues, it included exhibitions, walkthroughs and panel discussions.
“Contemporary Now: Edition III invites audiences to look beyond the artwork as an individual object and engage with the larger practice, context and ecosystem from which it emerges,” festival director Ashvin E. Rajagopalan explains in the curatorial notes.
For 20 days, the festival successfully transformed Chennai into a dynamic hub for contemporary art through the citywide programme. It brought together leading galleries, artists, collectors, cultural practitioners, and institutions.
The main exhibition, titled Practices in Continuum: The Work and the World, was held at Lalit Kala Akademi. See our coverage of earlier exhibitions at this popular cultural hub here.
The artist lineup, some of whose works are featured in this photo essay series, includes Jagannath Panda, Raghava KK, Tallur LN, Thukral & Tagra, Astha Butail, Gigi Scaria, Shailesh BR, Arshi Irshad Ahmadzai, Jasmine Nilani Joseph, Faiza Butt, and Shrimanti Saha.
One of the artistic showcases is titled In Dialogue with Nature (limited edition photographs and portfolios) presented by the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation and WWF-India at Avtar Foundation for the Arts. Ashvita's Flagship hosted K. Benitha Perciyal’s exhibition, How Long Will We Live? Or When Will We Die?
Other festival venues included Apparao Galleries, Ashvita's Campus, George K Studio, Gallery Veda, and Alliance Francaise of Madras. See our coverage of earlier exhibitions at Chennai’s Gallery Veda, The Art and Art Houz venues.
Mixed-media artist K. Benitha Perciyal works extensively with wood. “I chose wood as my primary medium, but I think it kind of also chose me. I use whatever material is available, and even buy material that others throw away,” she tells YourStory.
“I take discarded materials to my studio and restore them. I also use bark, leaves, roots, seeds and tree gum. Even the colours I use are mostly from natural material,” she adds.
It is hard sometimes for artists to decide which works to sell from their portfolio, and which ones to keep. “Whatever I find to be close, whatever takes me to another world, I keep as a reference,” Perciyal explains.
Ideas come to her not just in her studio but from just about anywhere and everywhere. “Everybody is my teacher. My dog is my teacher, my squirrel was a teacher, my carpenter was my teacher. I learnt some things from college, but I kept learning after that,” she says.
As shown in this photo essay, the festival has explored contemporary artistic practices through themes of identity, ecology, memory, politics, materiality, and cultural change. The diverse artworks invite reflection and conversation among viewers.
“What has been particularly exciting about this edition is the way audiences have moved across the city, engaging with exhibitions, conversations, studios, archives, and institutions as part of a shared cultural experience,” adds co-director Priyanjoli Basu.
“Contemporary Now is not only an exhibition; it is a learning structure. It invites audiences to move from the gallery program to the artist's voice, from the artist's voice to the artwork, and from the artwork to the larger world it reflects,” she describes.
In sum, with more than 15 events across 10 venues, the festival underscored the platform’s vision. It positioned Chennai as a site of artistic engagement and cultural exchange.
Galleries from other Indian cities shared their art works as well. They were sourced from Kolkata (Experimenter), Ahmedabad (Archer), New Delhi (Vadehra Art Gallery, Ojas Art, Art Alive) and Mumbai (TARQ, Chatterjee & Lal, Chemould Prescott Road, Project 88).
Such festivals bring greater opportunity for artists, collectors, curators, critics, educators, and cultural institutions. They create pathways for commissions, collaborations, sales, residencies, and international connections.
The ecosystem itself strengthens as artists from different disciplines and backgrounds exchange ideas and build lasting relationships. Large and accessible festivals reach people who may not ordinarily visit galleries or cultural spaces.
Concentrated attention during a festival can translate into stronger sales, collector engagement, and new client relationships. Galleries are seen as part of a larger cultural narrative rather than operating as individual destinations.
Other opportunities open up for hospitality partners, media and international cultural networks. The sense of occasion created by an annual festival spurs cultural momentum and encourages people to explore the city through art.
The greatest benefit comes from connecting the overall ecosystem. The city gains from cultural tourism, local economic activity, international attention, and a stronger reputation as a creative destination.
A successful festival therefore does more than present art—it creates a temporary cultural infrastructure that connects people, places, ideas, and markets across the city. Its impact can extend well beyond the festival itself, strengthening the city’s arts ecosystem and building relationships that continue throughout the year.
“Whether experienced by a first-time visitor, a student, an artist, or a collector, the festival exhibitions offer an invitation to look more closely, to think more deeply, and to recognise contemporary art as an evolving record of the times we inhabit,” festival director Basu signs off.
Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?
K. Benitha Perciyal
(All photographs taken by Madanmohan Rao on location in Chennai.)