Monday, February 1, 2010

Peabody to celebrate art from India

Art experts from Peabody Essex Museum were recently in India to meet senior officials of the ministry of culture. They also visited the NGMA, the LKA, the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, and the National Museum, in Delhi to get a sense of how works are presented in India.

About 50 works of Indian art from the museum are slated to find their way into the art arena this year courtesy this world-renowned art institution. The works to be showcased in India will be from the museum’s rich post-Independence collection. Peabody, which is the largest holder of Indian art in the West, including Europe, is specifically known for its collection of works from colonial times to the present, spanning 200 years. It boasts of masterpieces by S. H. Raza, M. F. Husain, Manjit Bawa, Rameshwar Broota, and Atul Dodiya, among others.

Also in the pipeline is a new show, ‘Of Gods and Mortals, Traditional Art from India’ in the museum premises. It will bring out how art is treated as an integral part of day-today life. An accompanying note states: “The importance of paintings, sculpture, textiles and other art forms comprises two basic categories, one related to religious practices and the other to the expression of prestige and social position.”

This new installation of works from the museum’s collection of Indian art will feature approximately 28 pieces, principally representing the 1800’s to the present. Incidentally, PEM just concluded a significant show, ‘ReVisions: Indian Artists Engaging Traditions’. It presented 14 noteworthy contemporary works like Jogen Choudhury and Ravinder Reddy, exemplifying their diverse source of inspiration. It must be noted that the museum's collections are among the finest of their kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of art and architecture from across the world.

No comments:

Post a Comment