Things to do in Delhi this week

After a short break, one of Delhi's most-loved craft bazaars is back. Dastkar's Nature Mela returns with a new theme for the month. September’s theme is ‘Phool aur patti’ (flowers and leaves). The show brings together over 90 artisans and craft collectives from across India. Whether you're hunting for a statement pashmina shawl or just planning a leisurely browse, this shopping stop is worth pencilling into your calendar. And here's a bonus! Your pet companion's welcome too, provided they're on a leash.

The showcase will include traditional and contemporary crafts from across the whole country: khadi and handloom textiles, intricate embroidery, crochet, ceramics, paintings, upcycled creations, brassware, tribal copper jewellery, lac bangles and bamboo furnishings. The list is literally inextinguishable. You might even walk away with a Yak wool sweater imported from Ladakh. But the mela isn't just about shopping. A food court serving authentic regional dishes and traditional beverages from across India will keep you fueled while browsing.

When: September 10 to 21, 11am-8pm

Where: Nature Bazaar venue, Anuvrat Marg, Kisan Haat Andheria Modh, Desu Colony, Chhattarpur, New Delhi, Delhi 110074

Tickets: ₹50 per person 

Long before Baroda became synonymous with Indian modern art, K.G. Subramanyan was already pointing to Gujarat’s outsized role in shaping the country’s cultural landscape. There was just one thing missing: an art school. So when the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University was founded in 1950, it had a rare opportunity to start from scratch. This exhibition traces how that experiment unfolded, and how its ripples travelled far beyond.

Expect a lively mix of paintings, sculptures, mixed-media works, prints and photographs, alongside archival material from the DAG collection. Together, they offer both the big picture and the behind-the-scenes story: the school’s teaching, friendships, debates and everyday shenanigans that made Baroda such a creative hotbed.

Some artists pushed the possibilities of material and form. Others developed abstract languages shaped by surface, landscape and place. Still others turned to figuration, bringing together the intensely personal and the unapologetically political.

When: August 22 to October 24, 2026, 11am to 7pm

Where: 22A Windsor Place, Janpath, New Delhi

Tickets: Free

This is India through Thomas and William Daniell’s eyes. The exhibition might be a bit colonial in its perspective, but hey, gorgeous scenery is gorgeous scenery. The uncle-and-nephew Daniell duo travelled extensively across India, sketching everything from grand architecture to sweeping landscapes. Back in Britain, they turned those sketches into paintings, drawings and, most famously, a monumental series of aquatint prints. Their work was finally published in pairs between March 1795 and December 1808 as Oriental Scenery.  This one is the single largest and most ambitious project by English artists to depict India’s architecture and landscape. For the truly committed collector, the full set is a serious flex: 144 prints, arranged into six volumes of 24 each. This exhibition just brings together half of that spectacular haul.

The prints are arranged geographically, beginning in Calcutta and heading west across the Gangetic plain to Delhi. From there, it’s uphill into the Garhwal mountains, before doubling back through Lucknow to Calcutta. Next stop: Madras, from where the Daniells make a sweeping loop through what is now Tamil Nadu. Finally, we arrive in Bombay and head into western India to explore its extraordinary rock-cut temples.

When: September 13-24, 11am to 7pm  

Where: Bikaner House, Pandora Road, Delhi

Tickets: Free

Consider this your cue to swap yet another dinner-and-drinks plan for ten days of big stories, bold performances and plenty to talk about afterwards.

The IHC stage is set for another round of drama... the good kind. The India Habitat Centre (IHC) Theatre Festival returns this year, taking over its grand Stein Auditorium. Supported by the National School of Drama and Sikkim Repertory Company, this year’s festival brings together 12 critically acclaimed contemporary productions across four languages: Hindi, English, Tamil and Punjabi.

IHC already keeps its theatre calendar busy through the year. But the annual festival is when things get a little more ambitious, bringing a whole bunch of theatrical worlds under one roof, with different languages, forms, ideas, aesthetics and perspectives, all in one packed programme.

And that’s precisely the point. As Prof KG Suresh, director of IHC, puts it, the space has spent years building a reputation for presenting theatre, cinema and talks that is gloriously varied. From established practitioners to newer voices, and from different theatrical forms and sensibilities to stories that refuse to sit neatly in one box.

When: September 18 to 27, 2026, multiple slots

Where: India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Colony, Delhi 

Tickets: ₹200-₹500