Image: Image courtesy of Anindita Dutta
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, is presenting 'The Dream of Being', a new performance by the artist Anindita Dutta, on Saturday 17 October 2026, from 2 to 3 pm. The performance is staged in the museum's courtyard, or in the Atrium if the weather is poor, and admission is free.
The work has been created in conjunction with 'The Aldrich Decennial: I am what is around me', the exhibition occupying the museum's galleries and Sculpture Garden from 7 June 2026 to 10 January 2027. The programme is organised by Amy Smith-Stewart, the Diana Bowes Chief Curator, and Namulen Bayarsaihan, the museum's Director of Education, and it forms part of The Aldrich's third annual Community Day.
At the heart of the piece is the idea of duality: the possibility that opposing realities can exist side by side. Its central element is a freestanding, double-sided composition that offers two contrasting views, one associated with day and the other with night. Rather than resolving these contradictions, the performance asks viewers to remain with them.
Dutta works with found and worn garments, shoes and purses, objects that still carry traces of the people who used them. Through these materials she addresses love and loss, pain and pleasure, and questions of identity and belonging. In the performance she inhabits a wearable sculpture assembled from vintage clothing and accessories.
Dutta is a multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, installation and performance. She holds an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Iowa and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Hudson River Museum, Sean Kelly Gallery, SCOPE Art Show and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology in Beijing.
Her recent recognition includes a 2026 grant from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation and a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, as well as fellowships with NXTHVN and the Burger Collection. The Decennial, which provides the setting for the new work, remains on view into January.
