New Delhi, August 14, 2026: India's political journey is being revisited through an unusual combination of art, photographs, archival material and cultural memory at a new exhibition in the capital. Titled “Swaraj: Revisualising India’s Political History,” the exhibition seeks to present the country's evolution towards political self-rule and national self-discovery through visual and cultural material rather than a conventional chronological history lesson.
Curated by art historian and archivist Neville Tuli with the team of the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.), the exhibition opened on August 12 at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. It brings together a wide range of material that reflects India's political and social transformation across different periods.
History told through images and memory
Rather than presenting India's political history simply through dates, leaders and major events, “Swaraj” attempts to explore how political ideas were experienced and remembered by society.
The exhibition uses photographs, paintings, prints, books, film publicity material, slogans, memorabilia and audio-visual archives to create a broader picture of India's political consciousness. These different forms of material allow visitors to encounter history not only as a sequence of events but also as a collection of emotions, aspirations, conflicts and public memories.
This approach gives particular importance to visual culture. Posters, photographs and popular imagery can reveal how political messages reached ordinary people and how ideas such as freedom, nationalism and self-rule were communicated beyond formal political institutions.
From political struggle to self-discovery
At the heart of the exhibition is the idea of Swaraj, a concept closely associated with India's struggle for independence and the broader pursuit of self-rule.
The exhibition looks beyond the moment of independence to examine the continuing process through which India has attempted to understand itself as a political and cultural nation. This makes the exhibition less about celebrating a single historical milestone and more about examining an ongoing national journey.
The material assembled by TRIS also demonstrates how political history overlaps with art, cinema, popular culture and everyday public life.
Art as a historical record
One of the exhibition's significant features is its use of art as a form of historical documentation.
Paintings and prints can capture political moods in ways that official records sometimes cannot. Photographs can preserve moments of public mobilisation, while posters and film publicity can show how political themes entered popular culture.
By bringing these materials together, “Swaraj” presents a visual archive in which political history and cultural history constantly intersect. The exhibition therefore encourages visitors to look at familiar historical developments from a different perspective.
Neville Tuli’s archival vision
The exhibition reflects Tuli's long-standing interest in preserving and presenting India's artistic and cultural heritage. The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies, founded in 2023, maintains a broad repository covering areas including Indian art, cinema, photography, architecture, cultural heritage and social sciences.
TRIS's earlier exhibition, “Self-Discovery via Rediscovering India,” similarly explored India's cultural heritage through archival material, artworks and memorabilia. The new “Swaraj” exhibition extends this approach into the political sphere.
Why visual memory matters
Political history is often remembered through textbooks, speeches and official documents. But public memory is also shaped by images, films, posters, photographs and symbols.
Such material can help explain how political movements were perceived at the time and how their messages travelled through society. It can also reveal the changing language of nationalism and political identity across generations.
“Swaraj” uses this visual dimension to encourage audiences to engage with India's past in a more immersive way.
A different way of understanding India's past
The exhibition's significance lies in its attempt to move beyond a purely institutional account of politics. Instead of focusing exclusively on governments and political leaders, it brings together cultural objects and visual records that can illuminate the wider social experience of India's political transformation.
This makes the exhibition relevant not only to art enthusiasts but also to students, researchers and anyone interested in India's modern history.
Connecting the past with the present
The exhibition also raises a larger question about how India remembers its political journey.
Historical memory is not static. Each generation revisits the past through its own experiences and concerns. By assembling diverse visual records, “Swaraj” provides an opportunity to reconsider how ideas of freedom, citizenship, political responsibility and national identity have evolved.
Ultimately, the exhibition presents India's political history as a living archive—one preserved not only in official documents but also in the images, artworks, objects and memories created by generations of Indians.
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