Far from the climate-controlled galleries and exhibition halls that have come to define contemporary art biennales, a new art event in Ladakh is asking visitors to slow down and walk with the landscape.
The inaugural sa Ladakh Biennale, on from August 1 to 10, stretches across 230 km of the Leh-Kargil corridor, making it one of the world’s highest art biennales. Spread over eight sites, from Leh, Basgo and Likir to Nurla, Lamayuru, Henasku, Mulbekh and Kargil, it replaces the conventional ‘white cube’ gallery with mountains, monasteries, villages and open landscapes, positioning the region itself as both venue and collaborator. “Sa Ladakh Biennale is non-ticketed. All artworks will be on view along the Leh-Kargil route,” says an organiser.
At an altitude of over 3,000 metres, the event unfolds under the theme ‘Signals from Another Star’, examining how contemporary art can respond to questions of ecology, memory, climate and community in one of the world’s most environmentally fragile regions. “At its core, sa is not an event or a spectacle. It is a long-term commitment to building an institution rooted in mindfulness. We believe art has a responsibility to listen before it speaks: to landscapes, to communities, and to the knowledge that already exists within them. More than an exhibition, it is a process of continuous learning that evolves through dialogue, care and place,” says Raki Nikahetiya, artist & co-founder of sa Ladakh Biennale.
Curated by Vishal K Dar, with Tsering Motup Siddho as associate curator, the biennale brings together 12 international and Ladakhi artists and artist duos whose practices engage directly with the landscape they inhabit. Instead of transporting finished works into Ladakh, many projects have been developed through conversations with local communities, responding to the region’s weather, histories, trade routes and ecological realities. “We seek to transmit signals from a high-altitude landscape, where each work carries its own frequency, shaped by memory, weather, trade routes, communities and histories,” says Vishal K Dar, artist and curator. Its organisers describe it as a “non-white cube biennale”, one that shifts contemporary art outside institutional walls and into lived landscapes. The format also reflects a broader shift within global art practice, where site-responsive and environmentally conscious projects are replacing monumental installations that often require extensive transportation, construction and energy consumption.
Regeneration lies at the heart of the biennale’s philosophy. Rather than merely reducing environmental impact, organisers say the objective is to leave a positive legacy through collaboration, education and local participation. “A regenerative art biennale asks how artistic practice can leave systems healthier than it found them. For sa, this is a question of methodology as much as intention. During India Art Fair 2024, for instance, a large-scale installation created collaboratively with Ladakhi artist Skarma Sonam Tashi and German artist Philipp Frank used waste cardboard boxes as its primary material, which, after the fair, was repurposed as roof insulation for a school serving children of migratory farmers.
This edition is also helping to shape a regenerative standard operating procedure being developed on the ground alongside regenerative partner GLX, measuring planning, implementation, circular systems and how local communities may benefit through dialogue and participation,” organisers add. The artist roster reflects an equal dialogue between local and international voices.
Participants include Indian contemporary artist Jitish Kallat alongside artists from Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Germany, Nepal and Australia, while several Ladakhi artists, including Arunima Dazess Wangchuk, Ayan Biswas, Jigmet Angmo, Skarma Sonam Tashi and Stanzin Samphel, bring practices shaped by the region’s own histories and traditions. The curatorial framework deliberately places Ladakhi artists alongside global practitioners instead of positioning them as regional representatives.
The biennale itself represents the next stage of an evolving initiative. What began in 2023 as an annual regenerative land-art programme gradually demonstrated the need for deeper engagement with Ladakh’s communities and landscapes. “This isn’t a conventional biennale. It’s a pilgrimage across Ladakh. You have to slow down, acclimatise, understand the landscape and let it change the way you see,” adds Sagar Singh, co-founder of sa.