Pratibha Dakoji

Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, to Indian parents, Pratibha Dakoji began her professional artistic career in the Eighties. In 1978 she attended the Chelsea School of Art in London to study printmaking after earning a degree in graphic design from M.S. University’s Faculty of Fine Arts in 1976.

During her artistic career, Pratibha has constantly expressed herself as someone who believed in working with absolute freedom. This freedom translated into a bold artistic expression which can be witnessed in her doodles, themes and mediums. From oils to watercolours to printmaking and installations, she has experimented with a wide range of mediums. She co-founded Atelier 2221 in Delhi with her husband and printmaker Devraj Dakoji and served as its director from 1997 to 2003. Atelier 2221 was India’s first independent printmaking studio dedicated to advancing the medium as a fine art.

Pratibha’s artwork pulses with a vibrant presence, capturing moments that feel both fleeting and grounded. Her use of watercolours in her doodles evoke a dreamlike fluidity—organic yet intentional—blending spontaneous marks with familiar motifs. Rooted in a heritage that values deep engagement with nature and culture, Pratibha channels these sensibilities into her creative process. Her palette—soft, balanced, and poetic—unfolds gently across the surface, offering a quiet resonance drawn from memory and intuition. With each stroke, she weaves layers of subtle expression, merging delicacy with quiet strength. This strength also comes from her own life experiences - dislocation from her hometown, marriage, motherhood and so on- all of which found expression and interpretation in her art.

Pratibha’s works have been displayed at prestigious galleries like Art Heritage in Delhi, Sarla Art Centre in Chennai, Chemould & Cymroza in Mumbai. Her art also features in important collections like National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi; Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi and Hyderabad; Chandigarh Museum, Punjab; Kansas State University, USA; Elizabeth Foundation, New York and so on.