An Exhibition Explores the Complexity of the Monsoons

Monsoon Rooms looks at the varied impact that the rains have on bodies and minds across the subcontinent

- Rohit Chakraborty

The Indian subcontinent has long held a complex relationship with the monsoon. Rains have been symbols of the erotic, harbingers of respite and agrarian abundance, and, amid poor urban infrastructure and the global climate crises, agents of mass destruction. It is to look at the many ways in which the monsoon binds us as a society, and leaves a deep impact, that the Tri Art and Culture Gallery has organised an exhibition titled Monsoon Rooms. This is a not-for-profit multidisciplinary centre founded by siblings Varun and Nitasha Thapar in 2024 to reimagine encounters with visual, performing, culinary and literary arts.

Located in south Kolkata, the building with its unique triangular 'cake slice' design, has three levels open to the public. For the first time since its inception, two institutions—Harkat Studios, an alternative performance and arts platform based out of Mumbai, and Offset Projects, an artist-run initiative that curates installations and publishes books in contemporary photography, have collaborated on a project within the space.