The walls of Lalit Kala Akademi are filled with stories of home — of shared conversations, lived experiences and personal memories. For some, home is more than just four walls; it is a place of refuge, an idea or even a person. Through Landscapes of Belonging, presented by Madras Art Weekend in collaboration with The Hindu‘s Made of Chennai initiative, artists explore the many meanings of home through identity, heritage and memory, reflecting on the diverse ways people connect with places they inhabit and call their own. 

For instance, actor and filmmaker Suhasini Maniratnam’s debut digital artworks are deeply rooted in Chennai, the city she calls home. Alongside depictions of the Shore Temple and the Parthasarathy Temple, she speaks about how the familiar landscape of Besant Nagar has shaped her artistic practice. “I think there are things that we see every day, but we just don’t register them. I just want people to notice what is around them,” she says.

In this fast-paced world, artist P Saravanan invites viewers to pause and embrace the quiet of everyday life. His paintings are rich in luminous blues, warm ochres, and shades of red, with animals appearing in almost all his works, weaving together moments of companionship and coexistence. One painting depicts a man with a parrot picking tarot cards, while others capture a Jallikattu scene with men engaging with bulls and a little girl tenderly cradling her cat. 

Artist Neena Makhija’s works reflect on the inner lives of women within shared spaces, how companionship can coexist with solitude, and how silence can speak of endurance, reflection, and subtle resistance. With her use of bright colours, women are seen in their spaces surrounded by mundane everyday tasks. “These works explore the fragile architecture of human relationships built through gestures, memory, silence, care, and absence. The figures occupy shared spaces yet carry private emotional worlds, revealing the tension between connection and isolation in contemporary life,” says Neena. 

The exhibition also brings together emerging and established artists, offering a diverse showcase of painting, photography, mixed media, ceramics and sculpture. For Chennai-born and raised artist Monika Umapathy, her ceramic works are deeply rooted in the city’s landscapes. “The ceramic surface adds a physical and tactile dimension to the painted image, allowing me to preserve everyday observations in a material form,” says Monika. Through her works, she aims to document the intimate relationship between people, the environment, and lived experiences. 

Quiet belonging

For artist and journalist Narayan Lakshman, home is found in Chennai’s beaches, the gentle morning light, the warmth of its people, and the seamless coexistence of the modern and the traditional. Inspired by Zen Buddhism, his work evokes, in his words, “a sense of quiet belonging and an inner landscape as much as an exterior landscape, where everything is ephemeral and passing, yet everything beckons to you, holds you and embraces you. That sense of warmth, acceptance and the fortifying of one’s own identity is what I hope this artwork 

Also on view are the works of late artist T Athiveerapandian, offering visitors a glimpse into his enduring artistic legacy. Deeply inspired by nature, his landscapes were shaped as much by memory as by observation, with mountains, trees and lush greenery recurring throughout his work. Recalling his artistic vision, his wife, Susan Athi says, “He didn’t just paint what he saw. Even a single tree held 10 or 15 shades of green for him, and those nuances found their way onto his canvas.”

In artist NS Manoharan’s paintings, one can see the spirit of South India and the rich cultural heritage of the Thanjavur region. Having grown up in Kumbakonam, surrounded by villages, temples, ponds and fertile landscapes, he draws deeply from the memories of his childhood. During his college years, he spent much of his time painting outdoors, with temple streets, village ponds, paddy fields and the changing moods of nature becoming his favourite subjects. His works celebrate a way of life that is slowly disappearing. “Through my paintings, I hope to preserve these disappearing memories and pass them on to future generations,” he says. 

Together, the works on display reveal that home is not a singular place but a collection of memories, landscapes, relationships and lived experiences. Through diverse artistic voices and mediums, it invites visitors to pause, reflect and rediscover the familiar spaces that we inhabit around us. 

Landscapes of Belonging is on at Lalit Kala Akademy till June 30 from 11am to 7pm. Entry is free.