Unveiling the Unseen Somnath Hore at JCCA

The Jaipur Centre of Culture and Arts (JCCA) will open its doors on September 20, 2025, with a landmark exhibition: “A Prelude to Wounds – Unseen Somnath Hore.” This rare showcase brings together previously unseen drawings and sculptures by Somnath Hore (1921–2006), a modernist whose art remains a meditation on empathy, resilience, and the endurance of the human spirit.

Revisiting a Humanist Vision

Curator Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya reflects that Hore’s lines “were not bound by time or place; they speak universally of suffering and liberation.” The exhibition underscores this sentiment, revealing intimate sketches and sculptural forms that serve as lasting human documents—haunting yet profoundly compassionate.

From his beginnings in Chittagong in 1921 to witnessing the Bengal famine and peasant movements, Hore bore witness to some of the most defining upheavals of the 20th century. Across printmaking, bronze, and paper, his minimalist lines distilled collective anguish and resilience, culminating in the iconic Wounds series, now part of India’s foremost art collections.

The Book: Unseen Somnath Hore

Accompanying the exhibition is the release of Dr. Tarun Sharda’s book, Unseen Somnath Hore. This thoughtfully designed volume uncovers Hore’s private diary drawings from the mid-1960s and features essays by Sharda, Bhattacharya, and Chandana Hore.

A scientist, entrepreneur, and art patron, Dr. Sharda envisioned JCCA as a vibrant platform for modern and contemporary creativity, shaped by his ties to Indian and Japanese art and encouraged by Monika Sharda’s support.

More Than an Exhibition

Visitors will encounter not only Hore’s art but also his ethos: radical honesty, compassion for the marginalized, and beauty rooted in memory, famine, and conflict.

“A Prelude to Wounds – Unseen Somnath Hore” is more than an art event—it is a tribute to one of India’s boldest humanist voices and an invitation to engage with art’s power to remember, heal, and transcend.