Marching from the Margins

'Marching from the Margins' at the grand Bihar Museum in Patna is a landmark centenary celebration dedicated to veteran master Krishen Khanna (b. 1925), one of the surviving stalwarts of the legendary Progressive Artists’ Group. Khanna has dedicated his seven-decade painterly career to bearing witness to those who live on the socioeconomic periphery of Indian society.

The exhibition presents iconic canvases from his celebrated 'Bandwallahs' series—brass band musicians dressed in gaudy, faded red uniforms marching through crowded weddings—alongside his nocturnal depictions of truck drivers huddled around highway dhabas and moving Biblical allegories. Khanna’s bold, spontaneous brushwork and compassionate gaze affirm the heroic dignity of everyday Indian labor.