Twelve Gates Arts, established in 2009, is a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia, PA, and a leading platform for South Asian diasporic contemporary art. Rooted in cultural sustainability and equity, it provides spaces to explore the realities of migration, identity, and cultural exchange. As the only gallery in the region dedicated to South Asian diasporic art, it amplifies underrepresented voices and foster meaningful engagement between artists, audiences, and communities. The “gates” refer to the fortified gates that walled many ancient cities such as Delhi, Lahore, Jerusalem, and Rhodes – inside which lay the heart of each city’s art and culture, and today this reference offers perspectives on history and possibilities.
Twelve Gates
THE POET’S CIRCLE: April Writing Workshop featuring Taylor Alyson Lewis.
Photo by Zainab Zulfiqar
first there was a sea: opening.
Featuring Divya Victor and Aaron Cohik— CURB, 2019; Priyanka Dasgupta and Chad
Marshall— Harlem Adda, 2025
Photo by Zainab Zulfiqar
first there was a sea: Alam’s Wardrobe Trunk, 2023.
Priyanka Dasgupta & Chad Marshall.
Photo by Zainab Zulfiqar
No father—no frontier
Sensory Tour with Trina Sanyal.
Featuring Humaira Abid— Mother and Child-III, 2019.
Photo by Zainab Zulfiqar
first there was a sea: To India I come as a Pilgrim, 2025; Akbar’s Lost Archive,
2021.
Utsa Harazika.
Photo by Zainab Zulfiqar
“I love uniforms! Because if there’s nothing there, clothes are certainly not going to make the man. It’s better to always wear the same thing and know that people are liking you for the real you and not the you your clothes make.”
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again)