New Delhi, May 7 (PTI) The inaugural edition of the Sa Ladakh Art Biennale will bring together 12 international and Ladakhi artists and artist duos to explore a new model of art that responds to climate and ecology while “embracing regeneration as a methodology”.
Positioned as “the world’s highest regenerative art biennale” at the altitude of over 3,000 metres, the biennale will be curated by artist Vishal K Dar with Tsering Motup Siddho as associate curator under the theme “Signals from Another Star”, the organisers said.
Grounded in the meaning of “sa”, ‘soil’ in Ladakhi, the biennale will unfold across eight sites along the 230-kilometre Leh-Kargil corridor from August 1-10, “activating villages, learning spaces, and open landscapes”.
The participating
artists from diverse geographies and practices will engage with the land, its memory, weather, trade routes, communities and histories in site-specific artworks, inviting “new ways of seeing and understanding these conditions, while asking how art might take responsibility for climate through close engagement with place”.
“We seek to transmit signals from a high-altitude landscape, where each work carries its own frequency, shaped by memory, weather, trade routes, communities and histories,” Dar said in a statement.
Participating artists include Zahara Batool, Avantika Bawa, Shupiwe Chongwe, Hylozoic/Desires (Himali Singh Soin and David Soin Tappeser), Tundup Dorjay, Chemat Dorjey, Amrit Karki, Studio Eidola (Jonas Kissling and Denizay Apusoglu), Tom Mùller, Stanzin Samphel, Stanzin Tsepel, Stanzin Wangail, and Urgain Zawa.
Raki Nikahetiya, co-founder of Sa Ladakh, said that the biennale’s idea of art responding to climate and ecology is grounded in “long-term thinking, ecological responsibility, and collective care”.
“Regeneration is embedded across the layers of the biennale, from material choices and production processes to community engagement, education, communication, and legacy. Looking at eight regenerative angles, the biennale works across generations, foreground life-cycle awareness, and encourages collaboration between local communities, artists, sciences, architects and educators,” Nikahetiya said.
He added that the biennale will also be trialling a regenerative Standard Operating Procedure to translate these principles into practical working methods – “exploring how ecological responsibility, transparency, and long-term thinking can actively shape curatorial, organisational, and production processes”.
Beyond the biennale exhibition, the programme will extend to three special projects: an exhibition in Leh’s Old Town featuring five Ladakhi artists, supported by the Neekoee Foundation (India), reactivating the site as a community-led cultural space; an international collaboration with museum in progress (Austria) as part of the raising flags project, presenting six flags across biennale sites, including a new work by Ladakhi artist Skarma Sonam Tashi.
Another special project will be an intervention led by Ayan Biswas supported by Quiet Art Movement, documenting medicinal plants in Kargil through alternative processes and school workshops, culminating in a biomass-based installation.
With regeneration as a guiding principle, the biennale will also host residencies, workshops and community-led initiatives, making space for art, ethical engagement with local communities, and urgent issues of global concern. PTI MAH MAH RB RB
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