Artist of the Collection · Patna · Mithila, Bihar
Alka Das
Mithila painting brings folk visual language into dialogue with history, environment and contemporary life.
Patna-based artist Alka Das works in the Mithila painting tradition. Her practice keeps its recognisable visual vocabulary while turning towards modern history, environmental questions and the lives of women.
View a work in the collection
The artist
Mithila painting, living history
Das uses the visual language of Mithila painting to narrate events beyond the tradition’s familiar mythological subjects. Her historical series connect folk form with public memory and contemporary questions.
Awards & honours
Artist record
No formal award documented in cited sources
The sources located for this profile document exhibitions, training and projects, but do not name a formal award.
Biography
A contemporary Mithila practice
While staying with her in-laws in Madhubani, Das completed a one-year professional course at Mithila Art Institute, where she studied with artist Santosh Kumar Das. She later returned to art through a commercial platform in 2012.
Her work has addressed environmental concerns and modern Indian history. A series on the Champaran Satyagraha used the image of Gandhi’s kharau and foregrounded women’s contributions to the movement; a 2015 series on the Ghadar movement was shown in the United States.
In May 2026, a 15-day solo exhibition of her Mithila paintings was presented at Bapu Tower in Patna.
Biography synthesised from museum, gallery and institutional profiles.
Selected exhibitions
Exhibitions & projects
Mithila paintings at Bapu Tower · 2026
A 15-day solo exhibition in Patna, running from 15 to 30 May, presented Das’s Mithila paintings and included a work depicting the Ghadar Party.
Ghadar movement series · 2015
A series of Mithila paintings on the Ghadar movement was exhibited in the United States.
Lalit Kala Akademi, Patna · 2017
Das was invited to present a solo exhibition alongside her contemporary-history series.
Saraswati Foundation
In the collection
Explore works attributed to Alka Das in the Foundation collection.
Artwork 855
View artwork
Artwork 283
View artworkPaintings in the collection
Research & further reading
The Tribune artist profile · Patna Press exhibition report · 2026