Tamasha - Photos by Abhishek Khedekar
Schedule
Sat, 23 May, 2026 at 12:00 pm
UTC+05:30Location
Dilip Piramal Art Gallery: Mumbai | Mumbai, MH
DATES: May 8 to Jun 14
TIMINGS:
May 8: 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm
May to Jun 14: 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Tamasha is a docu-fiction photographic project that transforms Abhishek Khedekar’s work in exploring the everyday realities of a Tamasha family collectively known as Lokkalawant—who live and travel across the state of Maharashtra in India.
The artist spent six months travelling with the Tamasha family in 2016 documenting the troupe as part of an academic assignment, immersing himself in their daily lives beyond the stage and spectacle. The project continued to evolve through several additional trips between 2022 and 2023, allowing him to revisit the community and deepen his engagement with their lives and performances.
What began as the artist’s attempt to document a fading performance tradition gradually evolved into a deeper exploration of Tamasha as a metaphor for social hierarchy, visibility, and discrimination through a blend of documentary images and constructed visual narratives.
Commonly perceived as entertainers, the Tamasha family is often faced with persistent social prejudice, economic instability, and a neglect of their basic needs. What Khedekar’s work brings to the fore is the fact that though Tamasha is widely celebrated as a vibrant folk performance tradition, the communities that sustain this age-old art form often live on the margins of society.
About the artist
Abhishek Rajaram Khedekar (b.1991, Dapoli, India) is a photographer based in New Delhi. His work blends documentary practice with surrealist strategies, often incorporating collage, archival imagery, and installation.
His projects explore memory, marginal histories, and the lives of communities that exist on the fringes of society.
By combining factual observation with constructed visual narratives, his work challenges dominant representations and creates alternative forms of storytelling.
Abhishek’s projects frequently extend beyond photography into installations that incorporate sculpture, sound,
and spatial arrangements.
About the curator
Bharat Sikka was born and raised in India, where he began his photographic practice before studying at the Parsons School of Design in New York. His work engages with photography as both document and artistic inquiry. His projects explore cultural residues and social transformations within contemporary India, rendered through the visual language and material forms of art photography.
His work has been exhibited widely, including at the Kochi Muziris Biennale, Photoworks and Brighton Photo Biennale, International Center of Photography New York, Lalit Kala Akademi, The National Museum, among others. Bharat Sikka is represented by Nature Morte India.
Free Entry
Where is it happening?
Dilip Piramal Art Gallery: Mumbai, National Centre for the Performing Arts, NCPA Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400021, IndiaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
INR 0
