Engendered in Association with the Netherlands Embassy, Host ‘Inheritances of Light’ Fashion Cultural Show

The Engendered, in association with the Netherlands Embassy, hosted a fashion and cultural show named ‘Inheritances of Light’ in New Delhi. Exhibition curated by Myna Mukherjee was also showcased at the event. 

Even Fashion Designer JJ Valaya showcased his contemporary artistic performances

The presentation brought fashion into dialogue with art history, colonial memory, and cultural inheritance, reinforcing the exhibition’s central inquiry into light as a shared yet contested legacy across India and the Netherlands.

The event was held at the Travancore Palace

A key highlight of the opening was the panel discussion titled ‘Light Between Empires: Reimagining Dutch–Indian Artistic Dialogues Today’, featuring Dewi van de Weerd, Ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands; Martine Gosselink, Director, Mauritshuis Museum; Robert van Langh, Director, Drents Museum; art critic, AI and technology policy expert and author Karthik Kalyanaram; and curator and cultural producer Myna Mukherjee. The panel examined how contemporary art and institutions can ethically interpret shared histories, from Rembrandt’s engagement with Mughal miniatures and Dutch-Bengal works to present-day Indo-Dutch artistic collaborations. 

The event also featured installations and works by artists like Arpana Caur, Ranbir Kaleka, Seema Kohli, Shilo Shiv Suleman, Raghava KK, Fearless Collective, Paul Beumer, Phillip ‘Swede’ Hickok, Raja Ravi Varma (from a private collection), and others, alongside rare Dutch-Bengal works, Inheritances of Light, Geographies of Loss marked a significant moment in Indo-Dutch cultural engagement, one that expanded the exhibition format to include couture as a critical, collaborative, and historically grounded artistic response.