Narayan Chandra Biswas Sculptures Turn Monuments Into Vessels Of Grief & Remembrance

Architecture, in its own ways, is a portrait of time. Across centuries and civilisations, it has served as a mirror to society’s values, its hierarchies, its rituals, and its anxieties. From the soaring spires of cathedrals that pointed toward divine authority, to the regimented geometry of colonial bungalows that enforced power and separation, the built environment has always spoken volumes. Even in a simple courtyard or a shared threshold, one can find clues to a region’s social fabric — how communities gather, how families relate, what they fear, and what they celebrate. Architecture archives not only our aesthetic choices, but also our politics, spiritual philosophies, and collective aspirations.

In 'Aitijhya', a solo exhibition by sculptor Narayan Chandra Biswas, the artist approaches this very idea: that architecture is not static, but a living map of legacy. And not just national or cultural legacy, but deeply personal ones too.

The Bangla word 'Aitijhya' translates roughly to 'heritage' or 'oral tradition', a legacy passed from generation to generation. And for Biswas, that legacy begins with his father. A mechanical engineer turned carpenter, Ananta Biswas instilled in his son a relationship with material that was intuitive, tactile, and reverent. This bond manifests today in Narayan's monumental sculptures that explore the architecture of India, while reflecting a much quieter, more intimate architecture of memory.

Born in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, after his family migrated from Kolkata due to the fallout of post-partition conflicts, Biswas’s artistic trajectory is deeply rooted in displacement, adaptation, and the mingling of worlds. At Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, he shifted from drawing and painting toward sculpture, and began to specifically working with metal; a material he associates with both permanence and his father’s memory. In his hands, metal becomes pliant and expressive.

Bastar is also renowned for its centuries-old tradition of metal craft, particularly Dhokra, a form of non-ferrous metal casting using the lost-wax technique. Practiced predominantly by tribal artisans, this craft originates in storytelling and ritual, with each piece often representing ancestral lore, deities, or elements of nature. The region’s deep relationship with metal, both as material and metaphor, clearly echoes in Biswas’s own sculptural language.

In Aitijhya, Biswas constructs large-scale freestanding forms that evoke the Pols; the densely packed housing clusters in western India where communities of different castes, religions, and professions coexist. But this isn’t a nostalgia trip, it’s a sharp, sensitive look at the ways in which architecture mirrors our hopes for harmony even while embodying our contradictions.

The sculptures incorporate familiar symbols — a wooden crucifix or a crescent moon, subtly embedded into imagined facades, draws attention to the layered plurality of India’s religious and social identity. Biswas stitches together elements from various traditions, creating edifices that feel eerily familiar and yet unsettling in their ambiguity. The light plays tricks, the shadows distort form, and the viewer is left to wonder: is this structure uniting us or pointing to our divides?

As if to underline both quiet grief and pride, the exhibition nods to a poem by Nida Fazli, Walid Ki Wafat Par that reads, "The one who carved your name on your grave — he is a liar. I am the one buried in your grave. You live on within me." Just like these lines speak to the way our dead continue to live within us, Biswas’s sculptures hold the presence of his father, his lineage, and a broader cultural ancestry that refuses to be erased. His work demonstrates how the structures we build; whether they are homes, monuments, or artworks, become vessels for mourning and continuity.

When & Where:

April 12 - 21 - Bikaner House, Delhi

April 24 - May 31 - Palette Art Gallery, Delhi

Follow Narayan Chandra Biswas here.

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