A Quiet Disquiet
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Pooja Shah’s ‘Riddles of the Wor(l)d’ Captures the Poetry of Ordinary Life
In her debut solo exhibition Riddles of the World, Gujarat-based artist Pooja Shah offers viewers a deeply introspective and emotional journey through the everyday. On display at Akara Contemporary in Mumbai, Shah’s work appears at first glance to be a simple reflection of domestic life in India—grandmothers seated quietly beneath flickering televisions, women resting on doorsteps, or intimate scenes of hair being gently combed. But beneath these seemingly ordinary visuals lies a far more complex narrative of memory, solitude, and emotional resonance.
Running from July 10 to August 5, 2025, the show presents a series of paintings that manage to be both tender and quietly unsettling. Shah’s strength lies in her ability to capture stillness—moments that feel paused in time—but within that stillness is a charged atmosphere, full of unspoken stories. Each composition invites viewers to linger, to decode the emotional undercurrents layered beneath the surface.
Shah employs thin washes of paint and a muted, almost faded palette—techniques that mirror the ephemeral quality of memory and the fragility of the human condition. These visual choices make the works feel intimate, like faded photographs tucked away in old drawers, resurfacing with a sense of both warmth and melancholy. The delicacy of her technique underscores the emotional weight of her subjects.
The figures in Shah’s paintings often exist in isolation, even when they share the frame with others. A grandmother sits alone, dwarfed by the quiet hum of a TV. A mother, seated on the edge of a doorway, is accompanied only by a stray dog, her gaze distant and unfocused. In another piece, an elderly woman has her hair gently combed by a younger figure—a simple act rendered with such care that it speaks volumes about generational ties, dependence, and the quiet comfort of routine.
Yet, these are not nostalgic or overly sentimental depictions. Instead, Shah subtly interrogates what it means to be seen or unseen within domestic spaces. Her canvases reflect not only moments we may have witnessed in our own homes but also internal landscapes—those private experiences of longing, fatigue, resilience, and care that often go unspoken.
The title of the exhibition, Riddles of the World, cleverly hints at the double act Shah performs. Her works are both visual riddles and linguistic ones—inviting interpretation while resisting clear-cut narratives. The play on “world” and “word” suggests the liminal space her art occupies, between image and meaning, surface and depth.
What elevates the exhibition is how grounded it remains in the Indian context while resonating universally. These domestic scenes—though rooted in the specific textures of Indian homes and families—speak to broader themes of human vulnerability, generational passage, and emotional complexity. Shah doesn’t shy away from ambiguity; rather, she embraces it, allowing viewers to bring their own experiences into the frame.
At a time when visual art often leans towards spectacle or abstraction, Shah’s quiet realism feels especially potent. Her work invites stillness—both in form and in the viewer’s response. It asks us to pause, to look, and perhaps to remember.
Riddles of the world is on view at Akara Contemporary, 3C Amarchand Mansion, 16 Madam Cama Road, Colaba, Mumbai, from July 10 to August 5, 2025. It is a show not to be rushed through but absorbed slowly—like a half-remembered dream that stays with you long after you have left the gallery.
