‘Wild Grass’ foregrounds a changing rural India at Gurgaon exhibition

A new group exhibition at Eikowa Contemporary turns the spotlight on the evolving realities of rural India, moving beyond binaries of nostalgia and neglect. Titled Wild Grass and curated by Yash Vikram, the show is set against a backdrop of rapid infrastructure growth and migrant labour economies. The exhibition frames the village as a site of negotiation rather than a static idea, examining how rural landscapes are being reshaped under the pressures of digitalisation, climate change, migration and speculative development.Bringing together works by Bhuri Bai, Hiren Patel, Mukesh Sah, Vaishali Oak and Xewali Deka, it draws on practices rooted in lived rural experience. Through painting, printmaking, and textile-based works, the artists engage with themes of ecology, labour, memory and the intersection of tradition with contemporary realities.Among the highlights is Bhuri Bai’s Bird and Tiger (2025), which reflects her pioneering role in translating Bhil Pithora wall painting traditions onto canvas. A recipient of the Padma Shri (2021), Bai’s work anchors the exhibition’s dialogue between indigenous knowledge systems and contemporary expression.Hiren Patel’s works delve into the complexities of modern farming in South Gujarat, capturing the tension between inherited practices and technological change. Mukesh Sah, who transitioned from a career in media to full-time art, draws from his upbringing in Uttarakhand’s Himalayan landscape to explore terrain, materiality and memory.Textile artist Vaishali Oak brings a painterly sensibility to fabric, creating layered compositions that blur boundaries between mediums, while Assam-based artist and farmer Xewali Deka engages with rural ecologies and collective memory through an interdisciplinary approach.The exhibition, organisers say, aims to challenge reductive narratives around rural India, often seen either as idyllic or backward, and instead present it as a dynamic, shifting space negotiating multiple forces.Wild Grass previewed at the gallery’s Gurgaon space from 5 pm to 8 pm on March 20, with the show open to the public through April 18, 2026.