In 1938, Mahatma Gandhi commissioned modern artist Nandalal Bose to create paintings portraying different aspects of Indian life to be displayed at the Indian National Congress’ session in Haripura, Gujarat.

More than eight decades later, 16 of the 400 Haripura posters will go up on the walls of the India pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale that begins on May 11.

This will be the second time India will have a pavilion of its own at one of the world’s biggest art events. The last time was in 2011.

The overarching theme at the biennale this year is ‘Our Time for a Future Caring’, and India has decided to field Mahatma Gandhi to ensure a memorable show at the art event.

Curated by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, the pavilion - themed 150 Years of Mahatma Gandhi - is being spearheaded by the culture ministry, co-organised by Confederation of Indian Industry and commissioned by the National Gallery of Modern Art.

Gandhi’s idea behind commissioning these posters was to make art accessible and relatable to the common people of the country.

The works, which were painted on paper, stretched on cheap strawboard, capture the ordinariness, in flowy paintings, of the way of life at the time. There are images of a mother feeding her child, women cooking, husking or pounding rice, a drummer, a tailor and more.

This will be the first time Bose’s works are exhibited in Europe.

The Haripura posters are among the 50 works that will be part of the show at the India pavilion.

The exhibition will weave together artworks that either emphasise a historical moment, in direct collaboration or association with Gandhi, or stage imaginary encounters that reflect contemporary critical thinking, creating an opportunity for a renewed search and investigation into received notions of agency, action and freedom.

Also travelling to Venice from the NGMA collection will be M.F. Husain’s 1955 work Zamin.

In the panoramic oil on canvas, peppered with images of all things rural - a rooster, a wheel, bulls - Husain attempts to explore the relationship between a peasant and the earth, a subject that was close to Gandhi’s heart.

Among the works by contemporary artists will be Jitish Kallat’s immersive installation and video projection titled Covering Letter.

Projected on a traversable curtain of cascading fog, the work presents a letter that Gandhi wrote to Adolf Hitler a few months before World War II began.

Mist diffuses Gandhi’s projected text, echoing the fate of his message, which went unheeded.

Works by Atul Dodiya, Ashim Purkayastha, G.R. Iranna, Rummana Hussain and Shakuntala Kulkarni will also be part of the show.

The Venice Biennale will continue till November 24.