Lalit Kala Akademi Names 20 Awardees at 65th National Exhibition of Art
Twenty artists have won Lalit Kala Akademi Awards at the 65th National Exhibition of Art, chosen from 270 works displayed out of 6,175 entries.
The Lalit Kala Akademi has announced 20 awards at the 65th National Exhibition of Art, its flagship annual showcase of contemporary Indian visual art.
The Akademi received 6,175 artworks from 2,495 artists spanning 27 states and union territories. A First-Tier Jury reviewed the entries and selected 270 works for display at the exhibition.
The chosen pieces cover a broad sweep of practice and material — painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing and mixed media among them — reflecting both the range of contemporary Indian expression and artists' continuing experiments with new forms and ideas.
A separate Second-Tier Jury, tasked with picking the prize-winning entries, chose 20 works by 20 artists for the Lalit Kala Akademi Awards.
The awardees are Chandra Shekhar Sain for the terracotta sculpture My Entire World - I; Gopal Chandra Naskar for the acrylic-on-canvas painting The Tune of The Srimad Bhagavad Gita; Kishor Kumar Narkhadiwala for the oil painting Paryavaran; and Mrinal Dey for the acrylic painting Hopeless Settlement.
Nidhi Chopra won for the ceramic sculpture Tangible Dreams, Nimai Singh Sarungbam for the teak wood sculpture Mudra - I, and Pankaj Kumar Sharma for the drawing Haloed Traveler - II in panel works. Pooja Rajpoot was recognised for the white marble sculpture Prakriti Shoshan, while Praveen Kumar's mixed-medium painting Where The Walls Remember also took an award.
Pritam Madhukar Deuskar was selected for the etching Of Time and The City in printmaking, and Rajendra Prasad for the watercolour wash painting Sujata With Buddha. Ramesh Vithal Thorat's oil painting Untitled - II and Raviram Ramakrishnan's welded, oxidised copper sculpture Fisherwoman were also honoured.
Further awards went to Sanjay Kumar for the mixed-media painting When Memories Come Back - 7, Sanjay Kumar Sahani for the oil painting Youth, and Sanjib Kumar Gogoi for Aakar Nirankar - II, an acrylic and oil work on canvas. Santa Deb was recognised for the ceramic sculpture Attraction of Simplicity and Siddharth Shahjirao Shingade for the mixed-media painting Trees.
Usharanjan Mandal won in the "any other medium" category for the mixed-media work Wheel of A Crowded City, and Vijendra Sharma for the oil painting Life 2025.
Beyond recognition, the exhibition is positioned as a contributor to India's creative economy. By drawing together artists, audiences, collectors and institutions, it raises the visibility of practitioners and opens professional opportunities, while the display and sale of works give artists direct economic returns that help sustain their practice.
The Akademi said the participation of artists from 27 states and union territories underlines the national character of the exhibition, and reiterated its commitment to backing both established and emerging artists and to encouraging experimentation. It congratulated the awardees and participating artists and acknowledged the juries' role in the selection process.