There was a gentle, unhurried energy at the opening of Tela Art Gallery’s exhibition ‘To Be Continued…’ at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai… t...
There was a gentle, unhurried energy at the opening
of Tela Art Gallery’s exhibition ‘To Be Continued…’ at Jehangir Art Gallery,
Mumbai… the kind that only art, and people who truly care for it, can bring
into a room. The evening was inaugurated by actor Boman Irani, alongside
theatre personality Raell Padamsee, aviation consultant Parvez Damania, and
Rajendra Patil, President of the Bombay Art Society. Besides curators Ritu
Chopra and Vikas Singh, the gathering also saw artists and friends of the arts including
Gautam Patole, Prakash Bal Joshi, Safdar Shamee, Sangeeta Babani and lensman
Pradeep Chandra, gallerist Bhadresh Sheth among others.
The exhibition brings together artists across
generations, placing emerging voices alongside seasoned practitioners at the
iconic Jehangir Art Gallery, a space that has, for decades, been a quiet dream
for many! And perhaps that is what made the evening feel special… there was
pride, a little nervous excitement, and a palpable sense of arrival. Visitors
spent time with the works, many expressing how beautifully they connected with
the pieces on display, lingering longer than usual and engaging in conversations
around the art.
What stood out just as much as the art on the walls
was the way Boman Irani moved through the gallery. He took his time, stopping
at each artwork, listening to the artists, asking questions, and really
engaging with what they had created. He posed for photographs with them, but
more importantly, he encouraged them warmly, making each one feel seen and
valued. It was not a hurried walkthrough, but a genuine interaction… something
the artists are unlikely to forget!
“Art can calm you, it can excite you, it can make
you do better things. It may want you to be a better human being also,” Boman
Irani said, summing up the spirit of the evening. He also appreciated the
effort by the curators to bring emerging artists together with veterans on a
shared platform at a space like Jehangir, which often takes years to access.
Reflecting on his own relationship with art, he added, “Whenever I go any place
in the world, and even in Mumbai, I take a picture of me at an art gallery and
post it on Instagram.” “Parents,” he urged, “when you take your kids abroad,
just don’t take them to Disneyland and some fun fair… Take them to an art
gallery also, even if they don’t understand art. They will be influenced. They
will find inspiration… not just to be painters, but to understand that there’s
a different world out there that you can explore, love, be inspired by, and
maybe even become artists.”
‘To Be Continued…’ is about dialogue between
experience and experimentation, legacy and newness. For emerging artists,
exhibiting alongside established names not only offers visibility but also a
sense of validation, opening doors to conversations, mentorship, and wider
audiences that might otherwise take years to build. The show features nearly 70
works, including paintings and sculptures in oils, acrylics, 3D canvas, scrap
metal, bronze and fibre, moving across moods and mediums with ease.
The participating artists include Kiran Chopra,
Neeraj Sharma, Antra Srivastava, Amita Goswami, Kailash Kale, Chandan Roy,
Asurved, Shreyas Khanvilkar, Susanta Sarkar, Isha Patel, Deepika Shah, Cheena
Madan and Dr. Mayera Suman, each bringing their own distinct rhythm to the
exhibition.
Presented by Tela Art Gallery, ‘To Be Continued…’
is, in many ways, exactly what its title suggests… an ongoing journey. One that
honours where art has come from, while gently opening doors to where it can go
next. The exhibition will be on view at Jehangir Art Gallery auditorium until
April 20, 2026, daily from 11 am to 7 pm.
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