Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) is proud to present The Rooted Nomad, the first immersive exhibition examining the life and work of one of India’s most important and influential artists, M.F. Husain (1915-2011).
Presented for free at the Magazzini del Sale in Dorsoduro in Venice from April through November 2024, the immersive exhibition, designed by Visioni Srl, Rome, will coincide with the Venice Biennale and its theme of “Foreigners Everywhere.” It will illuminate the international significance of India’s most important modernist whose canvas stretched across the sky to assimilate references from diverse cultures and arrive at a syncretic language in his art. Curated by KNMA Director and Chief Curator Roobina Karode, the exhibition celebrates his versatility as an artist, thinker and writer, juxtaposing his wooden toys, paintings, photographs, letters, snippets from his films, collages, letters and poetry that shaped his vision of India as a richly layered ‘cultural mosaic’.

Roobina Karode, Director and Chief Curator, KNMA said, “M.F. Husain’s spirit was that of a ‘rooted
nomad.’ His itinerant imagination wandered the world only with an undying desire to return, living the
later years of his life with the predicament of being estranged from his own land. He experienced life both as an insider and a foreigner at the same time, and in the same place that he could never detach himself from.”
KNMA Chairperson and founder Kiran Nadar said, “More than seven decades since his work was first
exhibited at the Venice Biennale, in 1953, KNMA is honored to bring this ambitious project of the life and work of the eminent Indian artist M.F. Husain to Venice, at the moment when the world’s artists come together to create a tapestry that binds us as a global community. We are proud to offer this exhibition free of charge to the public so that as many people as possible can know the lasting impact of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.”