Sumit Tagra and Jiten Thukral
This October, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, shifted from exhibition hall to conceptual playground as Ashvita’s presented Games People Play 02 by Thukral and Tagra from 7–16 October 2025. Marking 20 years of their collaborative practice, the duo used the occasion not to look back, but to reset the rules of how art is experienced.
“To see play only as leisure is limiting,” the artists remarked at the opening. “Through psychological, cultural, political, and environmental lenses, playing becomes a condition of life itself, revealing both our freedoms and our anxieties.” True to this ethos, the exhibition unfolded like a slow reveal: ten works, activated one per day, each representing a shifting emotional or conceptual state — from anxiety and vulnerability to resilience, belief, and care.
Rather than static installations, the works behaved like living prompts, gaining new meaning through visitor interaction. The Akademi became an evolving arena where participation wasn’t just encouraged — it was embedded into the exhibition’s very structure.
In the spirit of relational art, familiar formats were recharged with unexpected emotional weight. A ping-pong table, recurring in the duo’s visual language, appeared again — not as a symbol of competition, but of tension transformed into care. In perhaps the most striking gesture, Assets and Liabilities resurfaced demonetised Indian currency as a table-tennis surface, inviting audiences to literally play across the residue of collective economic memory — a poignant rally between lullaby and lament.
Inspired by Eric Berne’s 1964 book Games People Play, the exhibition explored the invisible behavioural scripts that govern intimacy, power, and survival. Here, the institution itself became a gameboard, and audiences, knowingly or not, became players negotiating shifting emotional terrains.
“This autumn marks 20 years of Thukral and Tagra Studio… we’ve continued to explore how art can build bridges between communities, ideas, and lived experiences,” the artists reflected. That bridging was evident — between viewer and artwork, memory and play, tension and care.
As Delhi’s cultural circuit leans into more participatory and reflective formats, Games People Play 02 positioned itself not just as an exhibition, but as a proposal for new forms of engagement. By redefining play as both rebellion and connection, Thukral and Tagra invite us to step in, take position — and realise that the rules are ours to rewrite.
About the Artists — Thukral and Tagra
Based in New Delhi, Thukral and Tagra comprise artists Jiten Thukral (b. 1976, Jalandhar, Punjab) and Sumir Tagra (b. 1979, New Delhi). Known for their multidisciplinary approach spanning painting, gaming, archiving, and publishing, the duo has developed a distinctive language that navigates the cultural, political, and emotional landscapes of contemporary India.
Lullaments Germany kinetic.
Their early practice dissected global consumer culture with sharp wit and pop-coded aesthetics. In recent years, their focus has shifted towards ecology, climate anxiety, and agricultural memory, drawing from their personal histories rooted in migration and farming legacies in Punjab.
Beyond the studio, Thukral & Tagra actively design new formats for public engagement, constantly expanding the role of art in civic life. Their key initiatives include:
- A non-profit foundation using art and education to address pressing social concerns
- Pollinator.io — a collaborative learning lab enabling cross-disciplinary dialogue
- andArchive — a publishing and distribution platform rethinking the future of print and memory
- Sustaina India, founded in partnership with think tank CEEW, positioning the arts as a catalyst for climate action
Their work consistently pushes beyond object-making, suggesting that art can operate as a system, a platform, and a social technology — shaping how we connect, care, and imagine together.
