India’s first-ever photo exhibition centred on children with clefts opens at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, marking Smile Train India’s 25-year milestone
New Delhi, June 2025:Smile Train India, the country’s largest cleft-focused NGO, has launched “Every Smile Belongs”, a compelling visual storytelling exhibition at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA). This landmark initiative — the first of its kind in India — brings children with clefts into focus, celebrating their stories through powerful portraits captured by renowned photographer Komal Bedi Sohal.
The exhibition, designed to shift perceptions from sympathy to empathy, features raw, emotive images that highlight the strength and identity of children living with clefts. It marks Smile Train India’s 25th anniversary and underscores its impact — having facilitated over 750,000 free cleft surgeries across the country.
Dr. Sujata Chaudhary, Additional Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, inaugurated the event and lauded the initiative for bringing cleft awareness into the mainstream through a medium as powerful as art.
> “This exhibition is a celebration of inclusion, dignity, and human resilience,” said Mamta Carroll, Senior Vice President and Regional Director for Asia, Smile Train. “We’re not just telling stories; we’re changing the narrative around cleft conditions by encouraging early and inclusive care so every child can grow up with confidence and dignity.”
Komal Bedi Sohal, who photographed the series, shared:
> “In a world obsessed with perfection, these children reminded me what true beauty looks like — raw, expressive, and full of spirit. This project is about visibility, acceptance, and honoring their strength.”
With over 35,000 children born with clefts annually in India, many still remain untreated due to social stigma and lack of access to care. Smile Train’s collaboration with KNMA underscores the role of art as a vehicle for social change, placing cleft-affected children at the heart of a respected cultural space and reframing them not as outliers, but as individuals with stories worth seeing and celebrating.
