MUMBAI, Dec. 30 -- Fresh off a blockbuster run in New Delhi -- in what is his first ever showing in India -- Russian contemporary art heavyweight Nikas Safronov is in Mumbai with Dream Vision, opening today at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). Conceived firmly as a public, non-commercial initiative, the exhibition follows Safronov's India debut at the Lalit Kala Akademi, which drew an estimated 5.6 lakh visitors in just 14 days - making it one of the most widely attended international art exhibitions in recent memory. In Mumbai, the show marks a rare convergence of scale, access and ambition, bringing a global art figure into direct conversation with a broad and diverse public. Known as a 'People's Artist of the Russian Federation' and arguably the most recognisable face of contemporary Russian art, Safronov has built a career on pairing classical painterly discipline with symbolic, often dream-like imagery. His works resist instant consumption; instead, they demand time. "Painting offers time," Safronov reflects. "Not speed or spectacle, but a pause. Today images flash and disappear in seconds, while a painting asks for silence and attention." For him, the power of painting lies not merely in representation, but in presence-the memory of the hand, the accumulation of experience, what he calls "human breath". Symbolic imagery, he adds, bypasses logic and addresses the subconscious, lingering long after the viewer has stepped away. The Mumbai edition of Dream Vision brings together 45 works spanning key phases of Safronov's career, tracing the evolution of his signature style-a genre he has long described as a meeting point between realism and inner reflection. Landscapes, classical compositions and symbolic portraits unfold across the museum's dome, charting a visual journey where form slowly gives way to philosophical inquiry. Created especially with Indian audiences in mind, several works draw on India's layered history, spiritual traditions and architectural rhythms, offering not literal depictions but imaginative responses to civilisational memory. Complementing the paintings is an immersive exhibition design that introduces multimedia, spatial sound and light-touch artificial intelligence elements. Carefully integrated into the gallery's architecture, the technology animates details, deepens sensory engagement and creates the sensation of entering the pictorial space-without displacing the primacy of the painted surface. "Technology should enhance, not replace, the artist's hand," Safronov insists, positioning these interventions as extensions of attention rather than distractions from it. Safronov's preference for symbolism over direct statement is inseparable from his own artistic formation. He began his career in the Soviet Union, navigating a cultural environment shaped by visible and invisible constraints. "To begin one's career in the Soviet era meant learning to speak indirectly," he recalls. "There were boundaries-sometimes rigid, sometimes barely visible-and within them an artist searched for his own language." It was within these limits, he says, that metaphor, symbolism and an inner sense of freedom took shape. "True freedom does not start with external conditions; it begins within the individual. Even when systems and eras change, that inner sense stays with you." This perspective continues to inform his thinking as contemporary societies grapple with widening inequality and the concentration of power. While Safronov resists the idea that artists must function as politicians, he is clear about the danger of indifference. "When power and money are concentrated in a few hands, art does not need to accuse," he says. "It can reflect. It can reveal anxiety, imbalance, the inner fears of society." In his view, a quiet, honest image can sometimes provoke deeper unease-and more lasting reflection-than overt protest. Direct political commentary, Safronov argues, is often tied to a specific moment. Symbolism, by contrast, endures. "A symbol lives longer," he says. "It speaks about fear, the hunger for power, loneliness, the loss of direction-things that repeat themselves in every country and era." Supported by Rosneft as part of a broader Indo-Russian cultural initiative, Dream Vision positions art as a form of cultural diplomacy-soft power rooted in shared reflection rather than assertion. "Historically, our nations have been united by shared values of mutual trust, respect and a genuine appreciation of each other's cultural heritage," observed Ivan Festinov, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Mumbai, referring to what President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi described during their recent landmark summit in New Delhi as a unique foundation of Indo-Russian relations. "This foundation finds an expressive and creative reflection in the works of Nikas Safronov. Whether inspired by Indian epic narratives or by the subtle resonance between our artistic traditions, his paintings reveal a meaningful emotional and artistic connection between our cultures." Yet the artist remains acutely aware of the pressures exerted by today's global art market. "The contemporary art world is closely connected to the market," he acknowledges. "But the market should not dictate meaning. Art dies when it merely serves demand and it loses depth when it becomes instruction."...