15 October,2026 01:29 PM IST | Mumbai | Shriram Iyengar
An archival image of Paban Das Baul (inset) in performance. Pics Courtesy/Strangers House Gallery
It is still mid-afternoon in Paris, when Mimlu Sen picks up this writer's call and introduces us to Paban Das Baul. Paban Da, as he is known, does not let the hesitancy of language come in the way of good conversation. He is excited that we have heard about his solo debut in Mumbai, Kaimattam, curated by Neenu Jacob.
Born in the small village of Mamudpur in Murshidabad, Paban Das Baul took to wandering with his father, and his brothers at the age of six after his father fell ill. "We used to sing keertans," he shares. They eventually moved to Sainthia, where he learned Baul music from his father's guru.
"We would often be invited to Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan," he recalls, adding, "I had learned to draw a little. Back in Sainthia, there was a Baul teacher who taught us to paint music scenes. But I was entranced by his dubki [single-sided drum]." In Santiniketan, the visual art re-entered his circle, along with Mimlu Sen, his partner.
His audience included names that were pioneers in the world of Indian art. He recalls Sarbari Roy Chowdhury and Ramkinker Baij sketching him as he performed at the Poush Mela. "They would talk about art, and music; and Baij once took me home to have khichuri," he says. Paban Da would take up painting, first in oil crayons, and later in felt; a practice that followed him through his journeys.
He hosted his first exhibition in 2004 at the Galerie Christian Ciret in Paris. One of the visitors was the late printmaker Krishna Reddy, who did not miss the connection. The artist's works capture movement, and forms that echo the language of the Baul tradition that he has been absorbed in.
The title âKaimattam', emerges from the Malayalam term for exchange or handover. "There is an unconsciousness to how we inherit things," curator Jacob explains, describing Paban Da's works.
This precise inquiry also led Jacob to Theresa Joseph, whose works on Malayalam typeform act as the intervention at the gallery. "Her artistic practice approaches the letter as a visual image. Her Malayalam Project is a research on how the script combines, absorbs from others, to find its own form," the curator explains.
Meanwhile, Paban Da retains his childlike openness. "I learned art by helping the kids in school. I only took it up because I was curious," he shares. That, after all, is at the heart of Baul philosophy - curiosity.
TILL November 8; 11 am to 6 pm
AT Strangers House Gallery, Clark House, Wodehouse Road, Colaba.
ENTRY Free
