When Nancy Adajania was requested by the Director General of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) to curate an exhibition devoted to Indian women artists to celebrate the museum’s centenary, she could have walked the beaten path by showcasing prominent names. “That is the default format of the art world, which I wished to avoid,” says the cultural theorist and curator. “I am saddened by how the art world emphasises the cult of the individual artist over the interplay between the individual and the collective, from which all culture is truly produced.”

In Woman Is As Woman Does, she highlights the works of five generations of Indian women artists. “I chose to begin this show with a significant moment in the women’s movement—galvanised after the Mathura rape case in the 1970s—which further gathered momentum through successful protests for legal reform in the 1980s. Also integral to this exhibition is the Chipko movement in the 1970s, and various initiatives to safeguard individual liberties. Women have been at the forefront of many of these movements. It is this sense of agency I wish to emphasise.”