Sarala’s Art Centre marks six decades with a nostalgic exhibition in Chennai

It is not every day that the works of Akkitham Narayanan, MF Husain, C Douglas and Achutan Kudallur share the same wall. At Garden of Our Memories – I, now showing at the Lalit Kala Akademi, Sarala’s Art Centre brings together nearly 200 paintings and sculptures by artists who have intersected with the gallery over its six-decade journey. 

Founded in 1965 by Soli J Daruwala and Moti Daruwala, Sarala’s Art Centre was among the first private galleries in South India dedicated to modern and contemporary art. The venture grew out of a framing business Daruwala established in Madras after working in the framing section of the Chemould Art Gallery in Bombay. Widely considered among the city’s first commercial framers, the Daruwalas soon expanded the space into a gallery. 

Sarala Banerjee and Bishwajit Banerjee
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

At a time when cities like Bombay and Delhi were shaping the national discourse around Modernism, the gallery created a crucial platform in Madras for artists experimenting with new visual languages and helped anchor the region’s emerging modern art movement.

According to Sarala Banerjee, daughter of Soli and Moti Daruwala and the second-generation owner of Sarala’s Art Centre, students and practising artists from the Government College of Arts and Crafts, the country’s first art college, would often gravitate towards the modest gallery space. “Art students and artists had no place to go to talk about contemporary art, so they would come to this little gallery and chat with my parents. That’s how the community grew,” she recalls. 

Soli Daruwala with Husain and the then queen of Greece
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Special Arrangement

The Daruwalas formed close ties with artists and teachers from the art college, including KCS Paniker, and the gallery soon evolved into a space where artists regularly congregated. Many struggling artists would even leave their paintings there and ask Daruwala for an advance when they needed money. 

Sarala recalls that the city itself was a very different place then. “There was no idea of contemporary art in Madras those days,” she says. The cultural ecosystem around modern art was still taking shape. As the gallery grew, so did its circle of artists and patrons. Sarala recalls that many artists like MF Hussain, Suryaprakash, Thota Tharani, who would later become prominent figures in Indian contemporary art scene were part of this early ecosystem. Her father, she notes, actively supported emerging artists of the Madras School building relationships that would endure as their careers expanded. 

Garden of Our Memories – I reflects the gallery’s long history of those relationships. “It’s just a few artists, the tip of the iceberg. We are trying to show a glimpse into what we actually have or hold or went through,” says Sarala. She describes the exhibition less as a curated survey and more as a gathering of memories.

Soli Daruwala with Homi Bhabha Jamshed and Artist palsikar
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

For Sarala, the diversity of artists and styles is part of the exhibition’s appeal. Audiences approach art with very different sensibilities. Some are drawn to works for their aesthetic value, others for intellectual stimulation, while many collectors simply want something meaningful to live with in their homes. The exhibition, she says, reflects that wide spectrum of tastes.

The exhibition is only the first instalment, she notes, hinting at future shows that may continue to draw from the gallery’s archives and relationships. For now, the display offers a small window into a much larger story — one shaped by generations of artists, friendships and shared histories.

Garden of Our Memories – I is on display at Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai until March 14. Entry is open to all.