You Can’t Keep Acid in a Paper Bag traverses time, from India’s partition to the present day and encapsulates Nalini Malini’s body of work through mixed media. The self-titled retrospective, divided into three episodes, translates into the publication, with each section carrying testimonials by renowned writers attesting to Malini’s artistic prowess. The publication includes essays and interviews by art historians, art curators, and cultural commentators such as Ashish Rajadhyaksha, Rhana Devenport, Doris von Drathen, Chaitanya Sambrani, Roobina Karode and Shanay Jhaveri.

The exhibition was first displayed at KNMA, Saket, in 2014, demonstrating Malani’s mastery over a range of materials, formats and media, acquired over 45 years of her illustrious career. It also presented artworks that had previously never been showcased in India, many of which captured her journey and perspective as an artist on the margins of the art fraternity, at a time when experimental art and women in it were few and far between. Malini has also cemented her position in modern Indian art history among the first-generation video artists as one of the firsts to pivot from traditional painting to new media experimentation. The publication brings to life her distinct urban and internationalist point of view that goes beyond the conventional and initiates critical dialogue on history, religion, and culture.

Edited: Roobina Karode and Lotte Betting
Publisher: Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
Pages: 302 Pages
ISBN: 8192803732