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There seems to be a celebrity-Death Note situation going on with Dolly Parton and Tim Curry dying within days of each other. Over the last couple of years, we also lost beloved, legendary names like Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Duvall, Catherine O’Hara, and Sam Neill. And people are pissed — asking for the Grim Reaper, if he does exist, to be fired immediately.
As someone who up until recently shared the sentiment after going through the death the "wrong parent", I think we have this whole thing upside down. All the pedophiles, rapists, war criminals and supervillains in politics are in the pink of their health, while pioneers, philanthropists, and dedicated artists who changed people's lives forever are dropping dead? God has got to be joking. Either that or we were wrong about death being a tragedy.
Based on all the jarring evidence, I have now come to believe that it may actually be an escape; a liberation of sorts. Nothing else can justify this ongoing list of people that no longer get to be on this planet — I mean Catherine O’Hara instead of Elon Musk? No. The only explanation is: life is a prison; a detention at the very least; and if you do enough good, make a difference, and fulfill your purpose, you get to leave early. In which case, congrats, Dolly. Farewell.
Directed by Abhishek Sachidanandan, ‘I Will Fly’ is set inside Delhi’s Charity Birds Hospital, one of the world’s oldest institutions dedicated to treating injured birds. Located in the courtyard of the Digambar Jain Mandir in Old Delhi, the hospital is rooted in the Jain principle of ahimsa, or non-violence towards all living beings, and provides free treatment to pigeons, parrots, crows and birds of prey. The film follows the daily work of veterinarians and volunteers as they care for birds, exploring compassion, coexistence and the relationship between people and animals in a crowded city, ending with a rehabilitated bird taking flight after weeks or months of treatment.
Watch it here.
The Dewar’s Discovery Challenge, a new initiative by whisky brand Dewar’s India, brought 50 Indian mixologists together to explore the cultural life of five cities and turn those experiences into craft cocktails inspired by Dewar’s whisky. Across Jaipur, Kolkata, Goa, Bengaluru and Delhi, the mixologists explored everything from traditional crafts and contemporary art to coastal ecosystems, urban food forests, music and kabootarbazi. The challenge used these encounters with artists, ecosystems and inherited traditions to explore how India’s diverse cultural landscapes can influence the way mixologists approach their own craft.
Read about it here.
Within Ceres, a metal project from India, brings Bharatanatyam and contemporary dance into the music video for their single ‘Digital Deity’. The track explores devotion, fury, grief and ecstasy through heavy riffs and chaotic passages. In the video, Bharatanatyam’s abhinaya — using facial expressions and gestures to communicate emotion — intersects with contemporary dance, creating a visual language that matches the intensity of the music. The video moves through industrial spaces, strobe lighting and performance footage, giving the track a physical, almost theatrical quality.
Watch it here.
Homegrown looks at three artists using photography to document the ecological crises unfolding across South Asia: Mrugen Rathod, Sharbendu De and Subhajit Naskar. Their work covers climate change, natural disasters, disappearing landscapes, indigenous communities and the people living through these changes. Rathod works across photography, video and installation to explore ecological histories, while De’s projects look at disasters, displacement and the Lisu community of Arunachal Pradesh. Naskar’s photography focuses on climate change and its effects on human life, building on his background in photojournalism and recent work with the Decoding Anthropocene programme.
Check them out here.
New Delhi label Countrymade, founded by designer Sushant Abrol, is known for tapping into military clothing, workwear and Indian craft for its collections. For its Autumn/Winter 2026 collection, FOUNDRY, Sushant takes the heat, pressure and worn surfaces of an industrial foundry and translates them into clothing through boiled wool, fused knits, distressed denim and coated fabrics. Work jackets, bombers, truckers and shirts are finished with Barmer appliqué, Ikat, Kantha, embroidery and patchwork, while bronze, ochre, oxidised tones, blue, black and charcoal bring the look of heated metal into the collection.
Go through the collection here.
‘MAYA: Seed Takes Root’ is the first book in a planned trilogy by filmmaker Anand Gandhi and writer and game designer Zain Memon, introducing a new science-fiction and fantasy world rooted in South Asian ideas. The story draws from mythology and philosophy alongside biology, neuroscience, politics and complexity science to build its fictional planet, Neh. Gandhi and Memon talk about creating a contemporary mythology that can grow beyond a single book, with MAYA also being developed through games, films, graphic novels and other forms of storytelling.
Check it out here.
‘All Will Rise’, an independent narrative game by Speculative Agency, is set in Muziris, a fictional city inspired by Kerala, that looks at climate change, coastal erosion, corporate power, colonialism and activism. Its story draws from real environmental struggles, including the experience of narrative director Meghana Jayant, whose family’s ancestral land in Kerala disappeared underwater following coastal erosion linked to a port expansion. Players encounter different characters and perspectives through a card-based storytelling system, while the game’s world draws on Kerala’s landscapes, culture and folk mysticism. At its centre is the question of how a video game can get people thinking about activism and collective action.
Read more about it here.
Las Hermanas, a taco truck founded by sisters Kavya and Ramya Allaparthi in Goa, brings together Goan flavours and Mexican street food. The menu includes lamb birria, slow-braised chicken, chipotle chicken and jackfruit tacos, alongside Mexican horchata and churros with Goan coconut-jaggery caramel. The brand takes visual inspiration from Mario Miranda and uses Spanish, Konkani and English across its menus and storytelling. Currently serving Margao, Kadamba and Miramar, Las Hermanas has also introduced monsoon additions including Mexican hot chocolate, corn on the cob, pre-orders and a drive-through service.
Find out more about them here.
‘Women on the Edge of Time’, curated by Linsey Young at Vadehra Art Gallery in New Delhi, brings together nine South Asian artists from India and the UK. Inspired by Marge Piercy’s 1976 novel, the exhibition looks at feminist histories through themes including bodily autonomy, displacement, political struggle, land and what gets passed between generations. The artists work across painting, drawing, photography and installation, bringing in subjects ranging from women’s everyday lives and feminist movements to colonial histories, class, state violence and marginalised communities. The exhibition is on view until 18 September 2026.
Read more about it here.
The ninth edition of Delhi Contemporary Art Week (DCAW) returns to Bikaner House from 31 August to 5 September, bringing together six women-led Delhi galleries and artists from across India and South Asia. This year’s programme explores changing climates, ecology, identity, belonging and our relationship with the natural world, with artists including Anju Dodiya, Atul Dodiya, Sudhir Patwardhan, Shanthamani Muddaiah, Wahida Ahmed and Priyantha Udagedara, among others. The week also includes two curatorial exhibitions, alongside a wider mix of painting, photography, sculpture, installation and other practices.
Learn more about it here.
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