By Avni Jain

Khoj Studios presents a philosophical yet politically sharp exhibition across Khoj Studios and DLF Avenue this February, transforming them into sites of urgent inquiry on what it means to be human in the age of technology. ‘Are you Human?’, a multi-artist exhibition, interrogates the entanglements between body, data, ecology and power in the 2020s and beyond. Bringing together artists from India, Australia, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Portugal, Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan, the exhibition transforms the gallery and mall into a living laboratory where technology is critically examined.

As digital media evolves, the exhibition presents artworks to answer one question: what does it mean to be human when we are constantly translated into data? The exhibition refuses the tired binary of body versus machine. It asks who designs the coexistence of body and technology and at whose expense.

Alongside its philosophical depth, Are You Human? also stands as a landmark moment at the intersection of technology and contemporary art.

“Computers, mobile phones, semiconductors, technology is now, you know, part of our life. In Taiwan, we also talk a lot about how people, human beings, live in this technological world. We have the Ministry of Culture, In the past 26 years, the Ministry of Culture has tried very hard to integrate technology with art. Taiwan is a modern society, but in our lives, how we experience and how this could be expressed in the form of art is quite challenging, but also very fun. And this time we have two teams from Taiwan.”

• H.E. Dr Mumin Chen at the preview of ‘Are You Human?’

Situating the exhibition within a global conversation, he remarks that technological advancement and cultural production are no longer separate domains but are deeply intertwined.

The Body as Data, The City as Interface

Across immersive installations, speculative kiosks, interactive VR works, and generative AI systems, the exhibition maps the transformation of the human body into data. Biometric scans, predictive algorithms, and machine surveillance are not treated as distant abstractions but as lived realities. The works reveal how gestures, identities, and emotions are constantly harvested, analysed, and monetised.

Surveillance capitalism, algorithmic bias, digital labour, and the erosion of privacy emerge as recurring threads. Yet the exhibition does not collapse into dystopia. Instead, it invites viewers to confront their complicity within these systems—while also imagining modes of resistance, opacity and agency.

Hasan Sharukh’s Pooja is Calling is paired with bright visuals, infectious music, and playful storytelling that draw viewers in like any pop anthem. But as the narrative unfolds, the humour sharpens into discomfort, exposing digital scams that commonly catch up, while Anisha Baid’s Relentless Logic reimagines Microsoft Solitaire as a fragile house of cards, exposing how early “games” quietly trained users into digital obedience.

A REMARKABLE COLLABORATION WITH DLF AVENUE MALL, SAKET, NEW DELHI

Extending to DLF Avenue, ten thought-provoking artworks transformed the mall into a site of inquiry, inviting visitors to confront how their gestures, movements and identities are constantly translated into data and how invisible systems of automation and extraction shape public space itself.

By placing technologically engaged, research-driven art within a commercial environment, the exhibition challenged the idea of malls as purely transactional zones. Instead, it reimagined them as spaces for reflection, curiosity, and learning.

“It’s exposure. I hope people enjoy a different perspective on thinking and widen their horizons. They may agree with it, they may not agree with it, but I still feel that, in a way, knowledge is power.

And Khoj is doing such an amazing job for the artists. Normally, people just go for the big names and  different art exhibitions, but this explores a different dimension which most of us are not even aware of.”

– Kavita Singh, Director, DLF

Through themes of surveillance, data extraction, AI bias, digital labour and algorithmic control, the installations resonate with the public.

In an exclusive conversation with ACF, Pooja Sood (Director, Khoj International Artists’ Association) and Kavita Singh (Director, DLF) share the vision behind this collaboration, rooted in the belief that art should foster learning and a curiosity beyond traditional boundaries and reach a wider audience. 

“Honestly, to have a space like this, which is highly commercial and if you value each of these spaces, it’s a lot. So, for DLF to actually have supported it, saying, go ahead, we trust you and this is for the public good to provide insights, education, but also pleasure.

We are very grateful. We want to reach out to a greater public than just the art world and they’ve made that possible for us.”

– Pooja Sood, Director, Khoj International Artists’ Association

A Civic Question

Ultimately, Are You Human? is not simply an exhibition about technology; it is an exhibition about power, authorship, and responsibility. Who codes our realities? Who benefits from automation? Who is rendered visible and who disappears within datasets?

By transforming both a contemporary art space and a commercial mall into arenas of critical engagement, the exhibition asserts that these questions belong to everyone.

Are You Human? remains on view at Khoj Studios until 28 February 2026 – an invitation to step into a space where art, technology, and critical inquiry converge. Enter, engage and confront the question for yourself: in an age of algorithms and automation, what does it truly mean to be human?