TRI Art & Culture: For the curious and creative

In the series of looking at 25 spaces that reflect how Kolkata continues to reinvent its cultural landscape, the multidisciplinary, nonprofit arts centre, TRI Art & Culture is a much-loved space. Sibling duo Varun and Nitasha Thapar opened the space in 2024 inside a reimagined mid-20th century Ballygunge residence transforming a private address into a space of art lovers.

From private to public
For four generations, the triangular Ballygunge property was a family home, its proportions and light retaining that intimacy. When the lease ended, the founders reconsidered its role. “Kolkata has a rare cultural inheritance; what’s missing is year-round space,” says Varun Thapar. Nitasha Thapar calls it a shift “from private to public.” The heritage shell was preserved, upgraded with modern gallery infrastructure. Its triangular geometry now guides visitor flow, exemplifying adaptive reuse
in Kolkata.

A space for all
Just a year in, the space has emerged as a multidisciplinary ecosystem, moving across visual, performing, literary, culinary and research practices through workshops and collaborations. ADDA: The Third Space transformed it into a sensorium of Kolkata’s street culture. “People are increasingly uninterested in being positioned as an arts audience; they want to be participants,” says Varun; Nitasha stresses on “lowering the psychological threshold.” Winter 2025 drew 6,600 visitors — up 166% — with 94% capacity use. Its strength lies in neighbourhood integration. Unintimidating yet urgent is how student & art lover Riddhiman Sen describes it.

Why we love it

• It transformed a private Ballygunge residence into a cultural campus open to all
• Its triangular architecture resists the generic white cube, making movement through art feel exploratory
• It treats participation as central to contemporary art

‘TRI has become a great space for dialogues from across different places and between different kinds of people,’ says
Soumyadeep Roy, artist
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