Welcome to the inaugural episode of the KALĀ Commune Podcast—a platform dedicated to amplifying the voices, visions, and creative forces shaping South Asia’s contemporary cultural landscape.

KALĀ (the Sanskrit word for art, craft, and creative execution) serves as our anchor. The KALĀ Commune Podcast brings together artists, curators, thinkers, and cultural catalysts from across Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the wider diaspora to dissect the region's shared histories, pressing narratives, and emerging futures.

In this first edition, we sit down with Raki Nikahetiya—a dynamic force bridging the worlds of art, activism, and environmental conservation. He is the director and co-founder of the sā Ladakh Biennale, the world’s highest-altitude regenerative art biennale, fostering site-specific installations and initiatives at the intersection of climate, culture, and community.

We dive into his creative process, the power of collective spaces, and how art can serve as a conduit for ecological and social restoration.

Produced by @IFilmSriLanka
Recorded at iFilm Studio

🔔 Subscribe and stay tuned for more on our channel!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kalasouthasia/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0346qwQSqGRBN78bQ7jvMo
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kalā-commune/id6801414717

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@kala_southasia

Marking her Sri Lankan debut, Richi Bhatia presents a self-led performance shaped by embodied research, material inquiry, and audience interaction.

The performance unfolds with a sound piece in the background as viewers are invited to engage with fish scales applied to the artist’s face — collapsing the distance between body, material, and spectator. What follows is an informal conversation, opening space to reflect on how the body and material are read across different geographies, informed by mythology, food practices, gender, and cultural memory.

Rooted in long, labour-intensive processes, Bhatia’s practice moves between performance, drawing, object-making, and community-based inquiry, using the body as a sensing tool to navigate personal and collective systems. This debut initiates a dialogue that is local in encounter, yet expansive in resonance.

What carries culture forward?

Carriers of Creative Force brings together voices from textiles, collecting, curation, and public art to examine material heritage, memory, and place in shaping contemporary South Asian creativity.

Moderated by Pujan Gandhi, curator and arts professional working across institutional and public-facing practices.

Featuring Vibha Galhotra, addressing ecology, environment, and the politics of land and labour; Mayank Mansingh Kaul, specialising in Indian textiles and craft histories; Kailash K Shrestha, exploring heritage and community-based knowledge; Indira Kithsiri, foregrounding material culture and diasporic histories; and Firi Rahman, engaged with contemporary practice and cultural platforms.

A conversation on objects, makers, and the shared spaces where culture is activated.

As we close the year, we extend our heartfelt thanks to our friends, patrons, partners, mentors, and the wider artistic community who journeyed with KALĀ throughout 2025.

This year was shaped by collaboration across exhibitions, residencies, exchanges, and public programmes, foregrounding Sri Lankan artistic practice while deepening connections across South Asia and beyond.

Key milestones included the launch of KALĀ COMMUNE at the prestigious University of Visual and Performing Arts; the inaugural KALĀ × Hampi Art Labs Artist Residency; international exchanges at Cité internationale arts, Paris; and the continued growth of the A4A (Artists for Artists) Production Fund. Our exhibition programme expanded through the second edition of PIVOT GLIDE ECHO.

We also marked important moments through mentorship engagements at India Art Fair and the announcement of our first Artist-in-Residence for 2026.

As we look ahead, KALĀ is excited to forge new partnerships in 2026.

Beyond the Walls: How Galleries Develop Artistic Careers
Talk by:Charlie Moore Grosvenor Gallery & Anahita Taneja Director Shrine Empire

The Role of Artists in the Commercial Gallery System and Their Representation

Nurturing Artistic Journeys through Residencies: Opportunities for Developing Practice

Raki Nikahetiya, Co-Founder of sā Ladakh
and Rosa Tyhurst, Curator at Gasworks, London, to learn about the opportunities that residencies can provide for expanding an artists research and practice.

On the heels of the Asia Arts Game Changer Awards in Delhi, we’re delighted to have 2025 Asia Arts Future awardee Karachi LaJamia deliver a special artist talk in Colombo in February. Karachi LaJamia is a Pakistani artist duo founded by Shahana Rajani (@shanzroll) and Zahra Malkani (@zahrammm) in 2015. Over the years, they’ve created a nomadic space moving outside the institution to explore new radical pedagogies and art practices. And they experiment with a range of research and pedagogical methods, having showcased their work in Karachi and outside.

The artist talk will offer an introduction to the interdisciplinary practice of Karachi LaJamia, their interest in experimental research and pedagogy, and the work they do in foregrounding the lives of indigenous communities in Karachi for wider audiences. The presentation will be followed by a moderated discussion.

Artist to Artist: Crafting Narratives and Community in South Asia

Hema Shironi in conversation with Munem Wasif, exploring their shared and disparate practices in building narratives through materiality and navigating community relationships in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.