Being Hyper Human, at Bengaluru’s Venkatappa Art Gallery, captures life in the digital age

The students, faculty and alumni of Bengaluru’s Srishti Manipal Institute are hosting a photographic exhibition in the city. Titled, Being Hyper Human, the show has been curated in collaboration with the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.

Mahesh Bhat, an educator at Srishti curated the show with his colleague Jatin Gulati.

Mahesh says it was during a visit to New York in 2024, that he met Brian Emery, chair of photography at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). “I had also interacted with students at the Bronx Documentary Center there and realised they shared a lot in common with my students.

An exhibit at Being Hyper Human
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

He says though living on different continents, the students were expressing similar sentiments. “They were growing up in a complex environment which had become one world, not two countries. That led to me to propose a project where a cohort of students from Srishti and FIT could work together.”

Though Being Hyper Human was initially conceptualised for students, faculty and alumni from both institutions eventually participated in the show which comprises over 100 works of art created by 27 individuals. The exhibition is built on the theme of one’s “perception of reality in the digital age” and encourages visitors to do the same even as they ponder on their own association with images.

“I believe young people can make new worlds which are just, kind and compassionate, because we are living in such horrible world today. For that to happen, however, it is important for these professionals and artists of tomorrow to be able to see our world clearly, cutting through all the clutter,” says Mahesh.

He adds, “This could be through film, photography, design or writing; it is medium agnostic”.

According to Mahesh, Being Hyper Human, “is the meaningful voice of young people who engaged with the subject for over a year. They did not do this for marks or extra credit, but out of their own volition to express themselves.”

This project ran as an exhibition at the FIT gallery in New York from June to September last year.

Being Hyper Human is on at Venkatappa Art Gallery till February 20, 2026, from 10am to 5pm. Tickets ranging from ₹10-100 to be paid in cash at the venue.