To Make a Home with You', a group show at Art and Charlie gallery, brings a queer perspective to the idea of home and belonging

To Make a Home with You', a group show at Art and Charlie gallery, brings a queer perspective to the idea of home and belonging

- Anindo Sen

A group exhibition at Art and Charlie, a contemporary space in Bandra, Mumbai, comes just ahead of Pride Month in June. Titled To Make a Home with You, the show curated by Mihir Thakkar brings together five young artists—Aksh Diwan Garg, Deepak Dhiman, Lakshya Bhargava, Namrata Arjun and Zoya Lobo—from diverse backgrounds. The curator and artists identify as queer and their visual reflections in the show stem from deeply personal and lived experiences.

Thakkar, who is making his curatorial debut with the show, would like to break this notion that queerness sits outside of mainstream society. "I want to push back against attempts at 'othering' queer people as a subculture," he adds. "Queers are not different from heteronormative people in seeking a support system in friendships, which offer them a safe space and a sense of belonging. And this is an aspect that the show focuses on."

SPACES FOR TOGETHERNESS

There are some interesting interpretations and renditions in the show. For instance, Namrata Arjun's Arrival (after Masaccio) (2025) critically examines the early Renaissance artist's work The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden. In Masaccio's fresco, which can be viewed in the church of Santa Maria Del Carmine in Florence, Adam covers his face and Eve her breasts in shame as an angel with a sword drives them out of heaven.