Born in Karachi in 1946, shortly before the Partition of India, Nalini Malani is one of India’s most influential contemporary artists, known for her politically and socially engaged practice. Her work often reflects on displacement, conflict, gender, and collective memory, shaped by both personal history and broader socio-political realities. Across decades, Malani has consistently responded to moments of social upheaval, using art as a means of observation, critique, and reflection.

She graduated from the Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, in 1969, and began experimenting with film and moving image early in her career, notably through her Dream Houses stop-motion films. In the 1970s, she studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, an experience that further expanded her artistic and political perspective.

Malani’s practice spans painting, drawing, film, installation, and animation. Her engagement with mythology and narrative was deepened through her experience as an illustrator and her exploration of reverse painting techniques alongside Bhupen Khakhar. Through layered imagery and storytelling, her works continue to examine questions of identity, violence, and human resilience.