Winners of the Tata Trusts Students’ Biennale 2026 Awards Announced
Awardees will get exposure to global contemporary art and international exhibitions
Kochi / April 22, 2026
Kochi, Apr. 22: Four student-artists have been adjudged winners of the sixth edition of Tata Trusts Students’ Biennale International Award 2026, held as part of the recently concluded Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB).
The awards, supported by the Tata Trusts since 2016, mark a milestone moment for one of India’s most influential platforms for emerging artists. Serving as a vital bridge between art education and professional practice, it offers young artists the space, resources, and mentorship to develop contemporary, research-led work. It will also shape their artistic journeys and create long-term pathways for a career in the arts.
This year’s edition, led by a team of seven curators, under the theme ‘Sensing Grounds’, brought together over 200 student-artists from more than 175 art institutions across India, presenting 70 projects across six venues in Fort Kochi.
The four awardees are Aswathy GS (Staged Narratives) from Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts, Mavelikkara, Kerala; Kailash Khanjode (Ginning Justice, 2025) from Government College of Art, Nagpur, Sachin Banne (Ginning Justice, 2025) from Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai; and Sai Gitanjali Poluru (Root System Analysis) from Shiv Nadar University.
The recognition includes an international trip, offering the students the opportunity to engage first-hand with global contemporary art and international exhibition-making.
Additionally, seven students were chosen for the Tata Trusts Students’ Biennale National Award—Abhishek Kholapudi (Mirage of the Three, 2025) from Suravaram Pratap Reddy Telugu University, Hyderabad; Pratik Khurkutiya (The quiet beneath the rubble) from MSU, Baroda; M. Imran Ahmed (Staged Narratives) from Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai; Reppandee Lepcha (Shifting Landscapes) from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan; Rohit Athavale (Ginning Justice 2025) from Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai; Urgain Zawa (Sacred Scapes) from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda; and Durgesh Prajapati (Expressions of Fragility) from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
The National Award provides month-long residencies at reputed art institutions across India, enabling recipients to develop new work under the guidance and mentorship of leading practitioners.
The awardees were selected by a distinguished jury comprising Umah Jacob (Director, External Relations & Outreach, India Art Fair), Shaleen Wadhwana (independent arts educator, researcher and curator), Rajyashri Goody (artist and former Students’ Biennale curator), and Osheen Siva (Multidisciplinary Artist).
Mr Siddhartha Sharma, CEO, Tata Trusts, said: “At Tata Trusts, we see art and culture as central to building a confident and forward-looking society. Creating opportunities for young artists to engage with global contemporary practices and shape their own creative journeys is an important step toward strengthening India’s cultural ecosystem and empowering the next generation of voices.”
Mario D'Souza, Director of Programmes, Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), noted: “The sixth edition of the Students’ Biennale was an attempt to engage with students and circumstances; to think of the world not from fixed, inherited positions, but through the fragile, shifting, and often contested sites where bodies, materials, and conditions converge with institutional and socio-political realities. We are humbled to learn from the layered curatorial research, student work and workshops that remind us that other worlds are possible and the role art can play in shaping them”.
The student-artists varied contemporary practices were particularly relevant this year, as the Biennale noted an evident evolution in student work—from traditional, skill-based and conventional forms such as painting and sculpture to conceptual, abstract and politically informed approaches, drawing from lived experiences.
The exhibition is part of a long-term endeavour to strengthen India’s contemporary art ecosystem. Since its inception, the Students’ Biennale has benefited over 1,000 young artists, who have gone on to establish significant practices with major residencies, exhibitions, and international recognition.
The Students’ Biennale is executed by Kochi Biennale Foundation, with the principal support of the Tata Trusts.
More information, and the entire list of participating artists can be accessed on the Kochi-Muziris Biennale website.
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