‘Time Unfolded’ at DLF Place in Saket

The KNMA has just unveiled its new premises at Saket’s DLF Place. However, the current venue is just a temporary repository for Kiran Nadar who intends to move to a more spacious space in the few years. She is already scouting for a venue that she terms will be a ‘permanent, iconic resting spot’ in her untiring quest to expand her 300-work collection further.

A criticism against the collection though, is that it’s merely an assemblage of several trophy art pieces. The former head of Christie’s (India) and independent art dealer, Mallika Advani, has an observation about Rajiv Sawara’s pre-modern & modern Indian art collection: “It’s quite unusual to find one with so much of depth. They have selected works, which best represent the artist, critical to being a good collector.”

The KNMA collection or exhibition, as we’ve followed in an earlier post, traces a visual trajectory of the Indian contemporary & modern art. ‘Time Unfolded’ is broad in nature more than being deep, with rather buzzy works of art by a host of artists instead of giving an in-depth insight of any.

While it does revolve around thematics, spread across categories like ‘the body’ and ‘landscapes in the city’, they seem as an effort to string together the major works that Kiran Nadar has acquired over the years. The KNMA director and the exhibit curator, Roobina Karode, points out that more than half the exhibit pieces were acquired only in the last year. The idea was to have all the great artworks since the museum ought to exude the ‘wow factor’.To sum it up succinctly, the KNMA is essentially a peek into a collector’s impulses.

For any average Indian museum visitor, it gives a good opportunity to check quality works like Sudarshan Shetty’s Taj Mahal installation, an Anish Kapoor sculpture and an enameled jewel-studded canvas by Raqib Shaw - the pieces usually seen at an elite art fair, museum or a high-profile gallery that they may be wary to visit.