Zainab Tambawalla’s practice centres on storytelling through observation and the act of documenting the fast-evolving fabric of cities, tracing the character of urban life and its visual language. Within this context, Mumbai becomes both her muse and her mirror, a layered, restless city that offers endless stories, each unfolding in rhythm and repetition. She finds meaning in the everyday and in the ordinary details that quietly define the city’s identity. With its layered realities and relentless pace, Mumbai becomes both the backdrop and the subject of her visual inquiry, a place where constant movement leaves little space for pause or reflection.
This exhibition builds on her ongoing engagement with the city, using repetition as a narrative tool. Through recurring subjects such as men at work, people asleep on bus stops and handcarts, water tankers, and
electric boxes, Zainab draws attention to what is often overlooked: the small, passing moments that together tell a larger story. Repetition here is not only aesthetic; it becomes a way of looking again, of reflecting, of understanding the rhythm of urban life. Each piece stands on its own, yet together they build a collective narrative that speaks of movement, continuity, and change.
Seen Unseen is a meditation on Mumbai’s restless energy and its quiet poetry. The work invites you to slow down, to recognise patterns within the ordinary, and to see how, even in motion, the city holds its stillness.
