The Story
OrganizerIn a market where contemporary art can feel siloed among competing galleries, six of Delhi's leading galleries chose collaboration. Blueprint 12, Exhibit 320, Gallery Espace, Latitude 28, Shrine Empire and Vadehra Art Gallery came together to create Delhi Contemporary Art Week, a shared annual platform that, since around 2018, has turned the colonnaded halls of Bikaner House into a hub for South Asian contemporary art.
Each edition brings the six galleries' distinct curatorial visions under one roof, showing works by established masters and emerging artists from India and the broader subcontinent across painting, sculpture, installation and technology-driven media, and layering in specially curated thematic exhibitions, a sculpture show, or a conceptual reimagining of the gallery space. The eighth edition, held from 31 August to 4 September 2025, was typical of its range and intent: alongside the galleries' presentations, a sculpture show gathered fifteen artists, while a curated exhibition reimagined the white cube as a domestic interior and explored language and belonging.
What has distinguished DCAW is its stance. Described as a set of women-led galleries and a platform that has long made space for women, queer voices and marginalised artists, it treats contemporary art as something to be opened up rather than kept exclusive, sparking dialogue across mediums, themes and generations. Over its editions it has evolved into a cornerstone of Delhi's cultural calendar, a moment when the city's art community, collectors, curators and public gather to take the measure of contemporary practice across the region.
DCAW is significant as a rare model of gallery collaboration and as a leading showcase of South Asian contemporary art in the capital. By pooling the resources and curatorial visions of six major galleries, it creates a platform larger and more ambitious than any single gallery could mount, and gives established and emerging artists from across the subcontinent sustained visibility. Its consistent platforming of women, queer and marginalised artists has helped broaden whose work is seen and valued in Indian contemporary art, and its thematic exhibitions push curatorial experimentation. As a cornerstone of Delhi's art calendar, it strengthens the city's standing as a contemporary-art centre.
In a contemporary-art scene often criticised as exclusive and market-driven, DCAW matters as a collaborative, dialogue-focused platform that widens access and representation, especially for women, queer and emerging artists. It gives Delhi an annual anchor for contemporary art and the subcontinent's artists a shared stage. For the Atlas, it is a significant node in mapping India's visual and contemporary art.
