Homi N. Dallas (1905–1993), an architect trained at the Sir J.J. School of Architecture, actively pursued the question of Indian expression through his professional practice and his involvement in architectural education. In 1948, he co-founded Parelkar & Dallas, which became a firm of considerable standing in Bombay. He was elected president of the Indian Institute of Architects on three separate occasions, occupying a central position within the profession across several decades.

Dallas also taught at Sir J.J. and is remembered as a teacher by students who attended the College of Architecture during the middle decades of the twentieth century.
The family resemblance at the heart of the exhibition lies in three related attempts to
negotiate inheritance and cosmopolitan training in order to define modern Indian
expression in the spheres of art and architecture.