Reviving Tradition: Pichvai Art in London
By Leyya Sattar
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending Feast, Melody and Adornment: The Art of Pichvai at the Mall Galleries in London, alongside Heleena Theodore and Kavya Chauhan. It was such a joy to have the team reunited after Uncensored, Heleena’s first solo showcase, where she debuted her Mughal miniature–inspired series, a powerful continuation of Other Box’s mission to amplify marginalised creatives and cultural traditions.
This latest show, founded by the formidable Pooja Singhal, is a landmark moment for Indian art in the UK. It marks the first major London exhibition dedicated entirely to Pichvai, a 400-year-old sacred painting tradition from India, that was historically confined to temple rituals and devotional spaces.
Thanks to a generous recommendation from Divia Thani, we discovered not only this show but also the deep and dedicated work of Pooja Singhal, who since 2015 has been working with master artists at her atelier in Udaipur to revive, restore, and reimagine Pichvai for modern audiences.
The exhibition features over 500 hand-painted works, some archival, others newly commissioned, each one a testament to painstaking craftsmanship and intergenerational knowledge. Some of the brushwork is done using single-hair squirrel brushes, enabling artists to create fine details on a nearly microscopic scale. It’s devotional, meditative and completely breathtaking.
We were there from 11 am to 2 pm, cancelling afternoon meetings, just to give this body of work the time it deserves. The symbolism, the stories, the preserved techniques… it reminded us of our mission at Other Box: to platform artists, amplify indigenous practices, and celebrate stories that often get left at the margins.
Just like with Uncensored, where we highlighted themes of colourism, gender, sexuality and the power of self-expression, this show speaks to something deeper than aesthetic appreciation; it’s about cultural memory, spiritual continuity, and representation.
Too often, traditional or indigenous art gets romanticised in the past tense. What Singhal is doing with Pichvai is different: she’s treating these artists not as relics, but as living custodians of knowledge. And in doing so, she’s challenging what we consider worthy of gallery space, preservation, and international recognition.
If you're in London, this exhibition is a must-see.
🗓 Open daily until Sunday 6 July
📍 Mall Galleries, London
🎟 Free entry
Tell them Other Box sent you!
