Amar Kanwar to receive major Serpentine North retrospective in 2026

Highlights:

• Amar Kanwar is getting a huge London show in 2026.
  
• Will host a site-specific, immersive installation.
• Feature both new and existing films, transforming the entire building.
• A new catalogue will feature unpublished writings and a long interview.

Indian filmmaker and artist Amar Kanwar, a quiet but monumental figure in contemporary art, is getting a major retrospective at Serpentine North. Slated for September 2026 to January 2027, this Serpentine Gallery retrospective won’t be a standard exhibition. It’s being conceived as a complete, site-specific art installation that will turn the gallery into what organisers call a “meditative visual and sonic environment.”

Amar Kanwar’s immersive films and installations will fill Serpentine North next year Instagram/paolamanfredistudio

What can visitors expect from this retrospective?

Don’t walk in expecting to just sit and watch a screen. Kanwar’s work has never been that simple. The plan is to use the entire architecture of Serpentine North, weaving his films into the very fabric of the space.Yeah, the Serpentine's been tracking his work for years. He was in that 'Indian Highway ' show back in 2008. Turns out that was just the start.

What it is about his work that gets under your skin?

He looks at the hard stuff. Violence. Justice. What we’re doing to the land. But he does it with a poet’s eye. That’s his thing. And it’s put him on the map. You see his work at big-league museums like the Tate, the Met. He’s a fixture at major shows like Documenta. You don't get invited back that many times by chance. His work just has that weight. His art isn’t easy viewing; it asks for your patience and focus. The upcoming Serpentine show is being built specifically to pull you into that slow, deep way of looking.

What else is coming with the show?

Alongside the films, the Serpentine will publish a significant catalogue. It’s not just a collection of images. It will feature a trove of Kanwar’s previously unpublished writings, giving a deeper look into his process. The book will also contain an extensive interview between the artist and the Serpentine’s artistic director, Hans Ulrich Obrist.

The gallery is betting big on an artist who works quietly, but whose impact resonates for years. As one staffer put it, they’re preparing for an installation that changes how you see, and hear, everything.