Method Delhi

Competition (if you call it that) for your attention among the hip art galleries in South Delhi, let alone Defence Colony, is stiff as brandy. Method’s always struck my imagination as having a particularly young, cheeky, cool-kid-in-your-classroom character. Their basement space in a non-descript building, patchy network inside, and little but a small name outside to guide you in, truly proves that you’ve already been struck by their latest exhibit’s prospect – which, I guarantee, most of its visitors are, for very good reasons.

If you know Method from its Kala Ghoda venue, I’m happy to tell you that there are 0 signs of the Delhi chapter, established five years later, trying to piggyback on the Mumbai one’s reputation. You can tell from the outset (read: their blank walls and minimal staircase to an elevated platform) that their focus is on intentionally positioning their artists’ pieces. 

By their own admission, Method is far more interested in positioning the contemporary and the experimental – often by emerging artists or those with niche mediums. And not in the buzzword way. They’re at their second best with their (frequent) solo exhibitions, which really allow you to delve into one creator’s work which often would otherwise be propped up as quick, flashy, and embodied into ‘broader’ themes. 

Now here’s why I said that’s their second best offering. The gallery has partnered with one of India’s pioneering online radio communities for alternative music – Boxout.fm – since 2022. The result is truly fresh gigs, listening sessions, and tour shows with a focus on artists who’re up and coming, housed comfortably between artwork that you can experience at the same time.

‘Boxout.fm has been supporting Method by curating music for all their Delhi events. Over time, this evolved into a more formal physical partnership. We became the exclusive music programmer, allowing Method to focus fully on the art, while we look after music and entertainment,’ Ayesha Dikshit, radio manager at Boxout.fm, told me. Boxout.fm has been at it since 2016, juggling online radio streaming with reimagining offline music-bound communities post the COVID pandemic. 

Ayesha’s quick to assert that the point of this wasn’t just to find a physical venue for artists in Delhi, or to create a clubbing atmosphere – it’s ‘really about a junction where the art and music communities can meet organically, with equal importance given to both’. Come, therefore, for the love of the game – and join one of Delhi’s most whimsical-but-respectful-of-space audiences.

Time Out tip: Parking is limited. Come by auto from Lajpat Nagar metro station.