The second Bengal Biennale of Contemporary Art will open in Santiniketan on 25 November 2026 and run until 2 January 2027, while the Kolkata leg opens on 28 November, The Hindu reports. The biennale takes its theme, "Banalata", from the heroine of a poem by the Bengali surrealist poet Jibanananda Das.
In his poem "Banalata Sen", the lyrical hero wanders the world for centuries, through civilisations and "the dark corridors of history", until he meets a woman from the town of Natore. Her face brings him peace and a long-awaited respite. The tenderness of this image lies in the possibility of finding, amid historical upheavals, a place of rest that justifies a long journey.
The exhibitions open in Santiniketan on 25 November and in Kolkata on 28 November. The works will be displayed at a multitude of venues: cultural centres, historical sites and independent creative spaces. The biennale will feature both established artists and emerging talents. Their works will address themes of ecology, memory, forced displacement and the search for one's place. The programme will also include works by classics of Bengali art, such as Rabindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose.
The biennale is organised by the Gameplan foundation, founded by Jeet and Malavika Banerjee.
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