Ranjan Jain: Supported by the Rosneft Oil Company, an exhibition by Nikas Safronov, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, opened on December 30 in Mumbai, India. The exposition, titled “Dream Vision,” has already welcomed its first visitors at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in Mumbai. The exhibition will run until January 15, 2026.
The exhibition in Mumbai was a logical continuation of the successful project in New Delhi. Then, in December, Safronov’s exhibition at the Lalit Kala Akademi National Academy of Arts attracted more than 314,000 viewers in two weeks, including representatives of government and international organizations, leading art critics and curators. The project has become the biggest social and cultural event of the season.
The exhibition in Mumbai includes 45 works that reveal the key stages of Nikas Safronov’s work — from the academic foundations of painting and symbolism to his unique, patented “Dream Vision” style. At the entrance, visitors are greeted by large-format LED screens that create the effect of a transition from real space to the world of images. Of particular interest are paintings where recognizable forms of Russian ornaments — gzhel, khokhloma, palekh — acquire a new sound.
The central element of the exhibition was the space organized under the main dome of the gallery. The key idea of the project is revealed here — combining the cultural codes of East and West through the synthesis of classical painting and modern technologies: installations, light, sound and digital solutions create an immersive environment. A multimedia installation in the form of a five-hundred-meter animated Hindu mandala has been developed especially for the exhibition.
The name of the exhibition “Dream Vision” reflects Nikas Safronov’s corporate identity, a unique patented technique that allows you to create multi—layered canvases that blur the line between reality and imagination. Many of the paintings presented in India are made in this style.
Audiences were especially captivated by a new series of works created by the artist specifically for the Indian public as a tribute to India’s history, philosophy, religious traditions, mythology, and architecture. Art critics have already described this series as a “subtle and intellectual dialogue of cultures, in which Russia addresses India through the universal language of images and emotions.”
The Rosneft Oil Company supports significant cultural projects in Russia and abroad and actively participates in the development of cultural ties between Russia and India. This summer, with the support of the Rosneft Oil Company, the Manezhnaya Square in Moscow hosted the Festival of India with an exhibition of folk crafts, national treats and performances by famous Indian bands. In October 2024, in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, with the support of the Rosneft Oil Company, a large-scale premiere of the Olympic champion Tatiana Navka’s ice show “Scheherazade’s Love Story” with the participation of world figure skating stars was held with great success.
