Banyan City

Baroda for many decades has stood as one of the most vital centres of contemporary art in India, becoming a city that has nurtured artists through its cultural and urban character. Home to the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University, it still thrives as a hub where ideas, tradition and experiments continue to transform the visual language.

It is evident how the city’s art scene has been shaped by diverse approaches and movements. Hence, over the years the art styles have been described as Narrativist; Modernist, where artists embrace installations, pop-art, kitsch culture and minimalism; and Post-Modernist, where the artistic expressions ranges from activist, socialist, and indigenist to mediatic-realist and photo-realist. From these multitude of practices, we see the city’s ability to absorb and foster a variety of creative and distinct voices.

Banyan City pays tribute to Baroda’s rich and evolving legacy, bringing together significant works by both established masters and promising emerging talents from the faculty. Through their practices we see how the art scene is continuously redefined and expands the parameters of Indian Contemporary Art.