About the work

In her works, Reena Kallat seeks answers to perennial human conflicts by probing the natural world, often mixing the botanical and zoological to examine the political. Here the drawing portrays inverted trees conjoined to resemble human lungs, highlighting our interdependence with trees – as a pivotal source of oxygen. National trees from bordering countries with historically tense relations symbolically unify, transcending artificial, human-imposed boundaries – the Ratchaphruek, the national tree of Thailand, and the Palm from Cambodia entwine to form a hybrid Ratchyra-Palm. Kallat is interested in how trees develop subterranean channels of communication and share an evolved underground fungal network. They sustain one another through a web of roots, emphasizing the deeper ecological connections that nurture life on Earth.

Date and country of birth

1973, IN

Career Highlights

Her work is exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York; Migros Museum of Contemporary Art, Zurich; Tate Modern, London; Helsinki City Art Museum, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul amongst others.

Solo exhibitions at Museums include Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland (2023), Compton Verney, UK (2022), Firstsite, UK (2022), Norrtalje Konsthall, Sweden (2021), The National Museum of Asian Arts – Guimet, Paris (2020). She has participated at the Sharjah Art Biennale (2023), Bangkok Art Biennale (2020); Havana Biennial (2019).

Her work is in the collection of Musee de Beaux Arts, Ottawa; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Arnhem Museum, Netherlands; Cincinnati Museum, Ohio; Manchester  Museum, UK; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung; Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada; Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai and National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.