Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) presents "The Rooted Nomad", the first immersive exhibition examining the life and work of one of India’s most important and influential artists, M.F. Husain (1915-2011). On show at the Magazzini del Sale 5 in Dorsoduro, the immersive exhibition will illuminate the international significance of India’s most important modernist whose canvas stretched across the sky to assimilate references from diverse cultures and arrive at a syncretic language in his art. 

Curated by KNMA Director and Chief Curator Roobina Karode, the exhibition celebrates his versatility as an artist, thinker and writer, juxtaposing his wooden toys, paintings, photographs, letters, snippets from his films, collages, letters and poetry that shaped his vision of India as a richly layered ‘cultural mosaic’.

Maqbool Fida Husain is remembered as the most celebrated and internationally recognized Indian artist of the 20th century. His earthy bold colours and expressive brushwork became the quintessential style of Indian modernism. He was associated early on with the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group, and much of his work was inspired by his vision of a new India following the partition of 1947. His themes, often depicted in series, ranged from humorous to serious and somber, covering subject matter ranging from Gandhi and Mother Teresa to the British Raj and Indian urban and rural life. Husain was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, India’s Upper House of Parliament, in 1986-92, during which time he recorded its events pictorially. Weaving together religious, social, literary, and symbolic iconographies into a secular artistic register, Husain was obsessed with the richness, diversity, and ethos of India, which represented for him a cultural mosaic.