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The Commons Canvas: How Pune Biennale Is Reclaiming Public Space in India's Urban Landscape

Feature Article   9 min read

On a humid January morning in 2017, architect Prasanna Desai stood at the center of Pune's bustling Jungli Maharaj Road, surveying the scene with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. Around him, a team of artists, students, and municipal workers were transforming the busy thoroughfare into something the city had never seen before: a continuous two-kilometer art corridor cutting through the heart of Pune. "There was this moment when I looked up and saw traffic police redirecting vehicles while students were helping mount large-scale installations on what had been, just days before, an ordinary traffic island," Desai recalls. "That's when I realized we were witnessing a fundamental shift in how Indians relate to public space."

This transformation marked the third edition of the Pune Biennale, themed "Habit-co-Habit," which would prove to be a watershed moment for both the event and the broader conversation about public art in India's rapidly developing urban centers. What distinguished this edition was its radical reclamation of public space in a country where such spaces are often contested, neglected, or privatized—creating what curators Zasha Colah and Luca Cerizza described as "a commons canvas for democratic expression."

The story of how Pune—a city known more for its educational institutions and expanding IT corridor than its art scene—came to host one of India's most innovative public art initiatives begins not with artists but with architects. Bharati Vidyapeeth's College of Architecture initiated the biennale in 2013 with a vision that was distinctly different from established models like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. While Kochi embraced the international art world's white cube traditions, Pune's architects approached the city itself as both exhibition space and subject matter.

"The architectural origins of the Pune Biennale fundamentally shaped its ethos," explains art historian Shruti Ghosh. "Most biennials worldwide operate primarily within the gallery system, treating public interventions as an extension of the main event. Pune inverted this hierarchy, privileging public space as the primary site of engagement. This wasn't just conceptual—it was a practical response to the reality that most Pune residents had limited access to conventional art spaces."

The statistical reality underscores this point: while less than 5% of Pune's population regularly visits galleries or museums, the 2017 biennale's strategic positioning along key transit corridors brought contemporary art into direct contact with approximately 300,000 daily commuters. Many encountered complex artistic interventions during their normal routines, without having made a conscious decision to "visit art."

This approach didn't emerge from a vacuum but responds directly to India's complex relationship with public space. In the post-colonial context, Indian cities have experienced what urban theorist Ravi Sundaram terms "pirate modernity"—a condition where rapid development, informal economies, and contested civic authority create urban environments where public space is rarely truly public. The Pune Biennale confronted this condition by temporarily suspending normal urban functions, creating what philosopher Henri Lefebvre might call "a moment of rupture" in the everyday rhythm of the city.

The "Pune Speaking Walls" project exemplifies this approach. Initiated during the 2017 biennale and continuing as a year-round program, the project has transformed over 400 wall surfaces throughout the city—many previously marred by illegal advertisements, political slogans, or neglect—into vibrant murals created through collaborations between international artists and local communities. These works don't merely beautify; they visualize the complex conversations about identity, history, and belonging that animate contemporary Indian society.

Significantly, the project required navigating a labyrinthine permission process involving multiple governmental bodies, private property owners, and community stakeholders. "Each wall became a negotiation about who really controls public visibility in the city," notes program director Varsha Gavandi. "We discovered that creating public art in India isn't just an aesthetic challenge but a process of civic engagement that reveals the hidden power structures governing urban space."

The approach has proven particularly resonant in a city with Pune's demographic profile. With 42% of its population under 30 and boasting one of India's highest literacy rates, Pune's young, educated residents have enthusiastically embraced the biennale's invitation to reimagine their relationship with urban space. University student participation has been a cornerstone, with over 2,000 students contributing to various aspects of the 2017 edition, from production assistance to guided tours and documentation.

This participatory model extends to the biennale's curatorial approach. Unlike many international biennials that impose curatorial frameworks from above, the Pune Biennale has developed what artist and participant Shilpa Gupta describes as "a permeable curatorial membrane." While each edition has appointed curators who provide thematic direction, significant space is allocated to projects emerging from community workshops, open calls, and student initiatives. This has occasionally resulted in tensions between professional curatorial standards and democratic participation, but these tensions themselves become productive sites for examining how cultural authority operates.

The biennale's impact extends beyond the art world. Pune Municipal Corporation officials credit the initiative with catalyzing broader urban improvements, including enhanced pedestrian infrastructure along Jungli Maharaj Road and increased attention to urban design in development planning. An economic impact study conducted by Savitribai Phule Pune University estimated that the 2017 edition generated approximately ₹12 crore (US$1.6 million) in economic activity for the city, with significant benefits accruing to small businesses along the exhibition routes.

As the Pune Biennale prepares for its future editions, it faces challenges familiar to grassroots cultural initiatives that achieve success: how to grow without sacrificing the local connections that give it meaning, how to balance international recognition with community relevance, and how to sustain momentum between biennial editions. The foundation's year-round programming and educational initiatives represent attempts to address these challenges, creating what foundation chairperson Kiran Shinde describes as "a continuous conversation rather than a periodic spectacle."

Perhaps most significantly, the Pune Biennale offers an alternative model for cultural development in rapidly urbanizing regions across the Global South. Unlike cultural megaprojects that often prioritize international tourism and spectacular architecture, Pune's approach emphasizes incremental transformation through sustained engagement with existing urban fabric and communities. As cities from Lagos to Lima search for ways to nurture cultural vibrancy amid rapid development, the Pune experiment provides valuable lessons in how art can meaningfully claim space in the contemporary city—not by building new cultural fortresses, but by reimagining the civic potential of streets, walls, and public squares we already share.

Artistic Vision & Themes

The Pune Biennale has distinguished itself through its thematic explorations that directly engage with the urban fabric and social dynamics of the city. Unlike many international biennials that might import global art trends, Pune's approach begins with the specific context of the city itself, using contemporary art as a lens to examine local histories, environmental challenges, and social transformations.

The inaugural edition in 2013, themed "Celebrating Hills," responded directly to Pune's distinctive topography. Situated in the Western Ghats, the city's identity has been shaped by its surrounding hills, which face increasing environmental pressures from development. This edition brought together artists, environmental scientists, and urban planners to create works that highlighted these geological formations not merely as scenic backdrops but as vital ecological and cultural entities central to Pune's identity.

The second edition (2015) shifted focus to "Heritage - Yours and Mine," exploring how cultural heritage functions in a rapidly modernizing city. This theme proved particularly resonant in Pune, a city that serves as both a repository of traditional Maratha culture and a hub for India's technology industry. The biennale created dialogues between historical preservation and contemporary expression, questioning whose heritage is privileged in urban development and how artistic interventions might bridge past and present.

The third edition (2017) presented the most conceptually ambitious theme: "Habit-co-Habit: Artistic Simulations of Some Everyday Spaces." Curated by Zasha Colah and Luca Cerizza, this edition examined the politics and poetics of shared urban space in contemporary India. The curators positioned cohabitation—between different communities, between humans and nature, between tradition and modernity—as both a practical reality of urban life and a philosophical framework for artistic exploration. By focusing on "everyday spaces" rather than exceptional ones, the biennale directed attention to overlooked sites where social relations are negotiated daily.

Across these thematic explorations, the Pune Biennale has consistently emphasized process over spectacle, valuing participatory art practices that engage directly with communities rather than importing finished artworks. This approach acknowledges that in a city where contemporary art infrastructure remains limited, the most meaningful artistic interventions often happen through sustained collaboration rather than temporary display.

Cultural History & Development

The Pune Biennale emerged within a specific cultural ecosystem that distinguishes it from other Indian and international art events. Founded by Bharati Vidyapeeth's College of Architecture in collaboration with the Pune Municipal Corporation, the biennial originated not from the traditional art world but from architectural education—a foundation that has shaped its distinctive focus on urban space and public engagement.

This architectural genesis explains much about the biennial's approach. Where many contemporary art biennials worldwide prioritize the white cube gallery experience supplemented by public programming, Pune inverted this hierarchy, placing public space at the center of its mission. The institutional backing of both an educational institution and municipal government provided structural support that allowed for ambitious interventions in civic space that would be difficult for independent art organizations to achieve.

The biennial's evolution reflects broader shifts in India's cultural landscape. It emerged during a period of significant growth in Indian contemporary art institutions, following the establishment of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2012) and preceding the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa (2016). Together, these initiatives have created new platforms for contemporary art outside of India's established art market centers of Delhi and Mumbai.

However, Pune's approach diverges significantly from these counterparts. Where Kochi-Muziris has achieved international prominence through its engagement with the global art world, Pune has focused more intensively on local context and community involvement. This reflects both practical realities—Pune lacks the cultural tourism infrastructure of Kochi or Goa—and philosophical commitments to art's civic function.

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Exhibition Venues

The Pune Biennale has pioneered an innovative approach to exhibition spaces, treating the city itself as a gallery and transforming urban infrastructure into sites for artistic intervention. This strategy reflects both practical considerations—Pune lacks the abundance of conventional art spaces found in major metropolitan centers—and philosophical commitments to democratizing access to contemporary art.

Central to this approach has been the activation of Jungli Maharaj Road (JM Road), one of Pune's main commercial and transit arteries. During the 2017 edition, this 2-kilometer stretch was transformed into a continuous exhibition space, with installations placed in traffic islands, pedestrian zones, and building facades. This created what curator Zasha Colah described as "a democratization of viewership," allowing thousands of daily commuters to encounter contemporary art as part of their routine movements through the city.

Public Art Initiatives

Beyond the biennial exhibitions, the Pune Biennale Foundation has developed several ongoing public art programs that maintain creative momentum between main events. These initiatives represent the foundation's commitment to sustained cultural impact rather than periodic spectacle, addressing one of the common criticisms of the biennial format—that it creates temporary cultural bubbles without lasting influence.

These year-round programs have strengthened relationships with communities, municipal authorities, and educational institutions, creating infrastructure for artistic intervention that extends beyond the biennial timeframe. They have also helped develop local artistic capacity, providing opportunities for emerging Pune-based artists to gain experience in public art contexts alongside international practitioners.