Past-Present-Continuous: 25 Years of The Guild

Past–Present–Continuous: 25 Years of The Guild is the exhibition catalogue produced in conjunction with the exhibition of the same title, held at Bikaner House, CCA Galleries, New Delhi in 2022, marking the silver jubilee of The Guild. The exhibition brought together works by thirty-seven artists and was curated by nine curators, each developing a distinct curatorial presentation centred on a select group of artists.

The catalogue comprises over 190 full-colour reproductions of the exhibited works, accompanied by a selection of installation views that document the exhibition’s spatial and curatorial framework. It further includes a series of curatorial essays that critically situate the participating artists’ practices within broader art-historical and sociocultural contexts spanning the past quarter century. Complementing these contributions is an extended essay by curator, writer Siddharth Sivakumar, offering a considered analysis of the development and significance of contemporary Indian art since 1997.

In addition to its focus on the exhibited works, the publication incorporates a dedicated section on archival materials presented as part of the exhibition. This section includes documentation of exhibition history, along with photographs and ephemera from 1997 onwards, thereby providing insight into the institution’s evolving curatorial frameworks and artistic engagements.