Webster University Art Exhibit to Focus on Dual Identities Among South Asian Immigrants

Renluka Maharaj, Priya with her daughter Ira, 2022, pigmented ink print on acrylic skin, silk-blended Sari fabric with embroidery, 15"x12"

Webster University’s Hunt Gallery will host “ATRA,” an art exhibit featuring the works of artists who emigrated from South Asia to the United States. The word “atra” is a Sanskrit term for “here.” The exhibit will examine the challenges that immigrants face after moving from their native environment to one that is completely new to them.

The exhibit opens at 6 p.m. March 21 with an artist reception and runs through April 19.

“Our identities are intrinsically anchored to the community that we spent our formative years in. It provides us with cultural, artistic, and spiritual references that will follow us for most of our lives,” said exhibit curator Jeffrey Hughes, professor of Art History and Director of Hunt Gallery in the Department of Art, Design, and Art History at Webster University. “This exhibit will explore what it means to have to leave that community and start over in a new place, one that has completely new cultures and ideas, and then trying to find a sense of home in that new location.”

The exhibit will feature the works of eight artists: Saumitra Chandratreya, Mee Jey, Shreepad Joglekar, Priya Kambli, Shreyas R. Krishnan, Renluka Maharaj, Al-Qawi Nanavati, and Udita Upadhyana.

South Asian artists were selected because they represent the largest immigrant group in the St. Louis region, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More than 11% of foreign-born residents of St. Louis list India as their country of origin, and another 1.1% list Afghanistan or Nepal. In the past three years, Webster University has seen a dramatic increase in students from South Asia. While it currently boasts having students from every continent except Antarctica, most of its international students come from Nepal and India.

The Cecille R. Hunt Gallery is an integral part of the educational mission of the Webster University Art Department and an important and visible aspect of its community outreach. The Hunt Gallery is a non-commercial, alternative venue that provides high-quality, professionally curated contemporary art exhibitions for the academic community and the broader St. Louis public. Hunt Gallery presents exhibitions of individual artists and groups of artists of regional, national, and international renown whose works demonstrate significant aesthetic achievement or historical importance.  

 CECILLE R. HUNT GALLERY  
 Visual Arts Studio  
 Webster University  
 8342 Big Bend Boulevard  
 St. Louis, Missouri, 63119  
 Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 5pm or by appointment