Naman P Ahuja
Jawaharlal Nehru University, School of Arts & Aesthetics, Faculty Member
- Naman P. Ahuja is a curator of Indian art, Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Editor of Marg Publications. ... moreNaman P. Ahuja is a curator of Indian art, Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Editor of Marg Publications. Noted for his critically acclaimed exhibition on The Body in Indian Art and Thought (shown at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels and the National Museum in Delhi in 2013-14), his curatorial work started at the British Museum in 2001, followed by exhibitions at Casa Asia in Barcelona, the Ashmolean in Oxford as well as numerous venues in India where they range in subject matter from antiquities to contemporary art. His studies on terracottas, ivories and small finds have drawn attention to the foundations of Indian iconography and transcultural exchanges at an everyday, quotidian level. Previously, as Fellow at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, he authored a comprehensive catalogue of their collections of ancient Indian statuary and archaeological material: The Art & Archaeology of Ancient India (Ashmolean, November 2018).
His first co-authored book on Indian art history, Divine Presence: The Art of India and the Himalayas (Casa Asia and Five Continents Editions: Barcelona and Milan, 2003) was translated into Catalan and Spanish. Subsequently, The Making of the Modern Indian Artist-Craftsman: Devi Prasad (Routledge, 2011), provided a case-study of the impact of the Arts and Crafts Movement on India. The Body in Indian Art and Thought (Ludion, Antwerp, 2013) explores a variety of fundamental approaches to what drives people to make images. It was translated into French and Dutch.
His book on The Arts and Interiors of Rashtrapati Bhavan: Lutyens and Beyond (Publications Division, Delhi, 2016) examines the changing nature of political and bureaucratic compulsions on the interior design of the home of the first-citizen of India over the past century.
In his latest curatorial venture, leading the Indian half of a team at the CSMVS, Mumbai for the exhibition on India and the World: a history in nine stories (accompanied by a catalogue published by Penguin, 2017), he examined the commensurabilities and divergences of the histories of Indians in relation to other civilizations of the world and the terms at which globalization can be encountered from an Indian perspective. India and the World, ran from November 2017 to February 2018 at the CSMVS Mumbai and at the National Museum, New Delhi in May and June, 2018.
Prof. Ahuja’s M.A. and M.Phil. classes are concerned with Indian temples, their sculptures and the economies that created them, the development and social-history of Indian iconography, the art of Gandhara and Indian terracottas. He has held Visiting Professorships at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence, the University of Zurich, University of Edmonton in Alberta and continues to lecture regularly at SOAS, his alma mater. He has also been awarded Fellowships by the Getty Research Institute and the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.edit
Composed in Hindavi (using the Old Hindi dialect of Jaunpuri Avadhi), the Chandayan is regarded as one of the foundational texts of the history of Hindi literature. The remains of copies that were once profusely illustrated sometime... more
Composed in Hindavi (using the Old Hindi dialect of Jaunpuri Avadhi), the Chandayan is
regarded as one of the foundational texts of the history of Hindi literature. The remains of
copies that were once profusely illustrated sometime between the late fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries are also foundational, for studies in art history. They form the largest corpus of evidence of pre-Mughal painting in north India. In this chapter, Naman Ahuja takes us through some highlights of the paintings of this popular tale and reflect on how the “vernacular” Chandayan is an invaluable source of social and cultural history that allows scholars to map the politics of language and patronage in the late 14th to mid-16th centuries.
regarded as one of the foundational texts of the history of Hindi literature. The remains of
copies that were once profusely illustrated sometime between the late fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries are also foundational, for studies in art history. They form the largest corpus of evidence of pre-Mughal painting in north India. In this chapter, Naman Ahuja takes us through some highlights of the paintings of this popular tale and reflect on how the “vernacular” Chandayan is an invaluable source of social and cultural history that allows scholars to map the politics of language and patronage in the late 14th to mid-16th centuries.
Research Interests:
The exhibition on the Body in Indian Art & Thought was accompanied by a number of collateral publications: a book which explored the history of Indian iconography through the lens of aesthetics, patronage and visual culture; a catalogue... more
The exhibition on the Body in Indian Art & Thought was accompanied by a number of collateral publications: a book which explored the history of Indian iconography through the lens of aesthetics, patronage and visual culture; a catalogue of the 300+ artworks with a focus on some highlights; an 8-part television series which offered a chance to see many of the contextual films in the exhibition and a CD with the specially recorded soundtrack of the exhibition. introduces a variety of Indian aesthetic meditations on the role of art and representation. The themes of the project’s narrative permitted a view into Indian culture that cut across chronological divides and juxtaposed the art of different regions, communities and religions, it permitted a study of what is regarded ethnographic or folk material alongside what is called classical.
The eight chapters, episodes or narratives are designed to balance each other. Concepts around the death of the body inform our understanding of how it is memorialized, represented and made eternal in No. I, and ideas of how immortal bodies are represented form the subject of No. V. While matters of cosmology and fate are the concern of No. IV, what inspires righteous action and individual agency is presented in No. VI. Creation, birth and life itself, determined by desire, miracles and forces beyond human control, are discussed in No. III, while No. VII shows how human ascetical power can conquer desire and rebut societal norms. And while No. II explores how ‘truth’ cannot be represented in bodily form in a transient and illusory life, No. VIII is premised on the idea that the aesthetic sensorium of art is itself ‘truth.’
The eight chapters, episodes or narratives are designed to balance each other. Concepts around the death of the body inform our understanding of how it is memorialized, represented and made eternal in No. I, and ideas of how immortal bodies are represented form the subject of No. V. While matters of cosmology and fate are the concern of No. IV, what inspires righteous action and individual agency is presented in No. VI. Creation, birth and life itself, determined by desire, miracles and forces beyond human control, are discussed in No. III, while No. VII shows how human ascetical power can conquer desire and rebut societal norms. And while No. II explores how ‘truth’ cannot be represented in bodily form in a transient and illusory life, No. VIII is premised on the idea that the aesthetic sensorium of art is itself ‘truth.’
Research Interests: Art History, Visual Culture, Social and Cultural Anthropology, South Asian Studies, The Body, and 13 moreMuseums and Exhibition Design, South Asian Religions, Curatorial Practice (Art), Cultural Anthropology, Indian Art, Indian Culture, Symbolism (Art History), Music and the Body, Religious Studies, Iconography and Iconology, Indian Archaeology and History of Art, Indian Philosophy and Religion, and History of Exhibitions
This book moves beyond the all too well known temples at Khajuraho, Tanjore and Konarak to look at temples in Kutch, Kashmir, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Kerala--each unique not just for its style, but also for the imperatives of... more
This book moves beyond the all too well known temples at Khajuraho, Tanjore and Konarak to look at temples in Kutch, Kashmir, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Kerala--each unique not just for its style, but also for the imperatives of patronage and diversity of public functions that their temples served. We examine rock-cut temples, extraordinary brick ones, circular yogini temples, wood or bamboo and complex multi-faceted towers. Bewildering though they may be in their architectural variety, this volume shifts our focus away from their variety, to look instead at who built temples and why? What were they used for? Given that many Hindus do not believe in image worship, what makes temples valid spaces for worship, and what legitimises their public role? What was the nature of the activities and communities they fostered and how temples also became the focus of urban centres. The approach is art historical, ethnographic and comparative. Temples, as this book shows, have adapted and changed over the centuries and served a variety of ritual functions. They have also been major centres of the arts: painting and sculpture, dance and drama. To celebrate 75 years of Marg, this bumper issue, brings together the writings of pioneering art historians who have deepened our understanding of this remarkable expression of Indian architecture. Excerpts frpom the introductions to its chapters by Naman Ahuja are available here.
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This chapter revisits the Arts and Crafts Movement within the history of modernism in India. It presented a persuasive way of thinking about craftsmanship and labour; the role of an artist and his/her terms of engagement with the... more
This chapter revisits the Arts and Crafts Movement within the history of modernism in India. It presented a persuasive way of thinking about craftsmanship and labour; the role of an artist and his/her terms of engagement with the sourcing and handling of the material of art making, its market and patron; above all, a model for how artists dealt with issues of signature, personal ambition, as well as undergirding of spirituality or the legacy of tradition in art practice. During the Indian freedom Movement, it became a political force through 'Swadeshi'.
This chapter presents a historical background to the Movement in India before looking at four modern artists -- Jamini Roy, Devi Prasad, K.G. Subramanyan and Dashrath Patel -- who each formed their own solution between the working in and with a community while maintaining an ouevre as a studio artist.
This chapter presents a historical background to the Movement in India before looking at four modern artists -- Jamini Roy, Devi Prasad, K.G. Subramanyan and Dashrath Patel -- who each formed their own solution between the working in and with a community while maintaining an ouevre as a studio artist.
Research Interests:
This book accompanied an exhibition in which the British Museum lent 120+ objects to India where they were placed in conversation with a nearly equal number sourced from Indian collections. As its co-curator, I used objects to focus on... more
This book accompanied an exhibition in which the British Museum lent 120+ objects to India where they were placed in conversation with a nearly equal number sourced from Indian collections. As its co-curator, I used objects to focus on issues that became apparent to the enterprise of a universal museum and global art history when seen from a non-western position, in this case, from India. This book presents the preliminary public text of the exhibition, while more specialised research papers have addressed the meta-narrative of universal museums, "decolonization" and the opening of Indian curricula to global history. The project starts by inviting the public to ask:
What is the earliest evidence of human history in India and how does that
compare with other parts of the world? What was happening in India when
the pyramids were being built in Egypt? What was different about Ashoka’s
inscriptions when compared with the public inscriptions of other emperors?
How have different civilizations pictured the divine? How did rulers promote
themselves through grand court art and aesthetics? What were the routes of
civilizational exchange over land and sea that made India a part of the world?
And have those exchanges always been peaceful? How have different countries and communities articulated their quest for freedom in recent history? Does everyone in the world perceive history and time in the same way?
Objects—be they coins, sculptures, documents or paintings—tell rich stories.
India & the World accompanies a collaborative exhibition that creates dialogues between the world and India through a fascinating array of artefacts. On the one hand they reveal how different cultures have responded to situations in their own way, and on the other, they provide an understanding of the complex panorama of a deeply interconnected global history.
What is the earliest evidence of human history in India and how does that
compare with other parts of the world? What was happening in India when
the pyramids were being built in Egypt? What was different about Ashoka’s
inscriptions when compared with the public inscriptions of other emperors?
How have different civilizations pictured the divine? How did rulers promote
themselves through grand court art and aesthetics? What were the routes of
civilizational exchange over land and sea that made India a part of the world?
And have those exchanges always been peaceful? How have different countries and communities articulated their quest for freedom in recent history? Does everyone in the world perceive history and time in the same way?
Objects—be they coins, sculptures, documents or paintings—tell rich stories.
India & the World accompanies a collaborative exhibition that creates dialogues between the world and India through a fascinating array of artefacts. On the one hand they reveal how different cultures have responded to situations in their own way, and on the other, they provide an understanding of the complex panorama of a deeply interconnected global history.
Research Interests: Archaeology, Art History, Material Culture Studies, Visual Culture, South Asian Studies, and 14 moreSouth Asian Archaeology, Modern Indian History, Curatorial Studies and Practice, Curatorial Practice (Art), Museology, Visual Arts, Indian History, Ancient India, History of Exhibitions, Ancient Indian Numismatics, Exhibition Catalogue, Ancient Indian Art and Architecture, Ancient Indian Religion, and Nationalism and Decolonization
The remains of what must have been a jewel of a Buddhist monastery, perched high on a granite massif, have been found at Phanigiri, 150 km from Hyderabad. The remains date between the 2nd to 4th centuries AD—a decisive period when... more
The remains of what must have been a jewel of a Buddhist monastery, perched high on a granite massif, have been found at Phanigiri, 150 km from Hyderabad. The remains date between the 2nd to 4th centuries AD—a decisive period when Buddhism was sharing space with a rising number of other organized sects. This book draws our attention to what this ancient Buddhist site looked like and the rich landscape it was situated in. The site is ringed with reservoirs, agricultural fields, forests and land mined for limestone and granite (and for diamonds and gold in antiquity). Bringing together research and images drawn from excavations carried out over six decades, this is the first comprehensive volume on the site’s sculptures, buildings and inscriptions. Six leading specialists from across the world come together to assess Phanigiri’s importance within the larger network of contemporaneous Buddhist complexes in India and Asia, and the lessons and opportunities it holds for heritage management and ecological living.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Ancient History, Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Iconography, and 15 moreArt History, Museum learning, Museum Studies, History of Religion, Historiography, South Asia, Indian ancient history, Museology, Antiquarianism, India, History of Collecting, Terracotta Figurines, Gandhara, Small Finds, and Harappan Civilization
Devi Prasad (1921–2011), India’s pioneering artist-potter, visionary educationist and pacifist, joined Santiniketan, India’s premier art school in 1938 when founder Rabindranath Tagore was still involved with the institution. At... more
Devi Prasad (1921–2011), India’s pioneering artist-potter, visionary educationist
and pacifist, joined Santiniketan, India’s premier art school in 1938 when
founder Rabindranath Tagore was still involved with the institution. At Nandalal
Bose’s suggestion and following a correspondence with Gandhi in 1944 he
joined Sevagram, Gandhi’s ashram, as Art Teacher, where he taught for nearly
twenty years. His political consciousness saw him participate actively in the
Quit India Movement in 1942 and in social reforms such as Vinoba Bhave’s
Bhoodan — the land gift movement of the 1940s and 1950s.
Apart from the making of his personal history and his times, this book leads
us to why the creative act of making art itself takes on such a fundamental
philosophical significance in his life — an ideal derived directly from his
absorption of Gandhi’s principles. The purpose of art and life as they came to
be realised by him, needed a change in the very approach people have toward
work, which could only be achieved through a new philosophy of education.
This book argues for an aesthetic basis for India’s freedom movement whereby
the Arts and Crafts Movement’s pioneers like John Ruskin, William Morris,
Charles Ashbee and William Lethaby impacted the writings and work of
Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Ananda K. Coomaraswamy as seen
in the ideology of ‘Swadeshi’ — India’s rallying cry for Freedom and the artistic
milieu of Santiniketan. Devi Prasad’s story, then, exemplifies the importance
of the Arts and Crafts Movement in shaping the nature of Modernism in India.
Devi Prasad’s ideals in art and in political activism, shaped though they may
have been on Indian soil, led him to crisscross international borders. In 1962
he migrated to London to become Secretary General (later Chairman) of the
War Resisters’ International, perhaps the oldest Pacifist organisation in the
world in order to spread the Gandhian way of life internationally. Here his
artwork underwent another transformation, cognisant of the realities of Western
living. On his return to India in 1982, he began to work more concertedly on
pottery: developing a community of studio-potters, their studios, tools and
equipment. This book reveals, against a backdrop of Modern Indian history
and international peace movements, how the worlds of ‘design’, craftsmanship
and studio art were negotiated via a philosophical quest to bring about social
change.
and pacifist, joined Santiniketan, India’s premier art school in 1938 when
founder Rabindranath Tagore was still involved with the institution. At Nandalal
Bose’s suggestion and following a correspondence with Gandhi in 1944 he
joined Sevagram, Gandhi’s ashram, as Art Teacher, where he taught for nearly
twenty years. His political consciousness saw him participate actively in the
Quit India Movement in 1942 and in social reforms such as Vinoba Bhave’s
Bhoodan — the land gift movement of the 1940s and 1950s.
Apart from the making of his personal history and his times, this book leads
us to why the creative act of making art itself takes on such a fundamental
philosophical significance in his life — an ideal derived directly from his
absorption of Gandhi’s principles. The purpose of art and life as they came to
be realised by him, needed a change in the very approach people have toward
work, which could only be achieved through a new philosophy of education.
This book argues for an aesthetic basis for India’s freedom movement whereby
the Arts and Crafts Movement’s pioneers like John Ruskin, William Morris,
Charles Ashbee and William Lethaby impacted the writings and work of
Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Ananda K. Coomaraswamy as seen
in the ideology of ‘Swadeshi’ — India’s rallying cry for Freedom and the artistic
milieu of Santiniketan. Devi Prasad’s story, then, exemplifies the importance
of the Arts and Crafts Movement in shaping the nature of Modernism in India.
Devi Prasad’s ideals in art and in political activism, shaped though they may
have been on Indian soil, led him to crisscross international borders. In 1962
he migrated to London to become Secretary General (later Chairman) of the
War Resisters’ International, perhaps the oldest Pacifist organisation in the
world in order to spread the Gandhian way of life internationally. Here his
artwork underwent another transformation, cognisant of the realities of Western
living. On his return to India in 1982, he began to work more concertedly on
pottery: developing a community of studio-potters, their studios, tools and
equipment. This book reveals, against a backdrop of Modern Indian history
and international peace movements, how the worlds of ‘design’, craftsmanship
and studio art were negotiated via a philosophical quest to bring about social
change.
Research Interests:
The first major exhibition of Indian and Himalayan art in Spain was held as the inaugural show at Casa Asia in Barcelona in 2003. It comprised unparalleled masterpieces from American and European collections.
Research Interests:
General Introduction - Geeta Kapur I: CONTESTED TERRAINS AND CRITICAL RE-IMAGININGS - Parul Dave Mukherji The Illusions and Antagonisms of Civilizational Exchange: Critical Reflections on Dismantling Asian Empires - Rustom Bharucha The... more
General Introduction - Geeta Kapur I: CONTESTED TERRAINS AND CRITICAL RE-IMAGININGS - Parul Dave Mukherji The Illusions and Antagonisms of Civilizational Exchange: Critical Reflections on Dismantling Asian Empires - Rustom Bharucha The Elephant and The Ant: Chinese and Thai Art in the 1980s and 1990s - John Anthony Clark Worlding Asia: A Conceptual Framework for the First Delhi Biennale - Arshiya Lokhandwala Cartographic Necessities: Contemporary Practices and the Making of a Brave New World - Gayatri Sinha Curating Barbarians: Descriptions of a Visual Practice - Marian Pastor Roces II: TROPES AND PLACES - Naman P Ahuja Miniature, Monster, and Modernism : Curating Terror or Terror of Curating - Quddus Mirza An Honest Engagement with the Pitfalls (and Perks) of the Ethnic (Rubric) - Negar Azimi Retrieving the Far West: Toward a Curatorial Representation of the House of Islam - Ranjit Hoskote Interrogating the Sacred: Storylines for the Self - Nancy Adajania The Art of Kazakhstan as a...
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These two chapters provide an illuminating political and cultural history of the interior design of India’s presidential residence which was originally designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to be the house for the British viceroy. They also... more
These two chapters provide an illuminating political and cultural history of the interior design of India’s presidential residence which was originally designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to be the house for the British viceroy. They also provides a detailed catalogue of select artworks kept in the house. Rich illustrations reveal how the interiors stand now, and they are contrasted with archival photographs that show how the house has evolved over the past 90 years including previously unpublished plans and sketches for the décor of the interiors of the house some of which date back to as early as 1914—these provide a rare
glimpse into how it was originally intended.
While the architecture of the actual edifice of the Rashtrapati Bhavan may be Lutyens’s most enduring legacy, the interiors of the building preserve a much more versatile history. These chapters trace how Lutyens achieved a stylish interior that accommodated the tastes and needs of various British aristocratic residents, politicians and bureaucrats, but equally had to impress an Indian public—for which, it needed also to incorporate a vocabulary of Indian design ornament. After the independence of India, many symbols of the colonial empire were rendered inappropriate and the interiors of the Rashtrapati Bhavan had to be transformed into the home of the president of a democratic republic with a rich history. This glimpse into the tastes of its different residents and the compulsions that guided them traces a most telling history of a changing world.
glimpse into how it was originally intended.
While the architecture of the actual edifice of the Rashtrapati Bhavan may be Lutyens’s most enduring legacy, the interiors of the building preserve a much more versatile history. These chapters trace how Lutyens achieved a stylish interior that accommodated the tastes and needs of various British aristocratic residents, politicians and bureaucrats, but equally had to impress an Indian public—for which, it needed also to incorporate a vocabulary of Indian design ornament. After the independence of India, many symbols of the colonial empire were rendered inappropriate and the interiors of the Rashtrapati Bhavan had to be transformed into the home of the president of a democratic republic with a rich history. This glimpse into the tastes of its different residents and the compulsions that guided them traces a most telling history of a changing world.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The exhibitions on “The Body in Indian Art & Thought” and “India & the World” presented enormous collections of the variety of Indian heritage. A subtext, one of several in fact, was to reinterpret, or re-present that heritage to nuance a... more
The exhibitions on “The Body in Indian Art & Thought” and “India & the World” presented enormous collections of the variety of Indian heritage. A subtext, one of several in fact, was to reinterpret, or re-present that heritage to nuance a history of erotica, gender, and sexuality through art historical sources. Since understandings of gender and sexuality are caught in the flux of changing attitudes, objects and rituals from times past can be read in ways that make them resonate with current knowledge formation, while still posing questions about the context in which that art was made. This essay explores how the question of gendered nationalism was communicated through a selection of figures that are showcased as patriots and martyrs. Some objects (for example with explicit nudity) elicited state censorship if it was from the ancient period, but not if it was modern. The display of certain narratives such as same-sex love had to be woven in with tremendous care. And vigilance was needed so that displays done in the name of gender representation do not actually foster objectification. Museum collections were thus used to remind the public of histories that reinforce gender stereotypes and how the public can be provoked to look at artefacts that question those stereotypes. How was this executed? This article details citations from research in the social sciences that can help interpret the types of objects encountered in many museums of South Asia and how exhibitions of classical or traditional art, history and myth, can enable national institutions in displaying narratives that are required for our times, strengthening shifts in public-perception.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Art History, Censorship, Museum Studies, and 12 moreSouth Asian Studies, Gender and Sexuality, Curating, South Asian Archaeology, Museums and Exhibition Design, Curatorial Practice (Art), Museology, Heritage Management, Modern and Contemporary Indian Art, Ancient Indian Archaeology, Museum Display, and Ancient Indian Art and Architecture
This paper illustrates the oldest known depictions of a Rāmāyaṇa narrative in Indian art. A substantial number of plaques and pots, of terracotta and ivory, that show the abduction of Sītā, one of the most prominent scenes from the... more
This paper illustrates the oldest known depictions of a Rāmāyaṇa narrative in Indian art. A substantial number of plaques and pots, of terracotta and ivory, that show the abduction of Sītā, one of the most prominent scenes from the legend, can be dated between the second century BC and second century AD. They need to be situated within a wider context in which this legend was being shared and adapted by several communities in ancient India. The author shows that the narrative was popular at Jain and Buddhist monuments as well. These depictions antedate those that are found at Brahmanical temples. Although the legends that make up the Rāmāyaṇa were common and used by different communities, the specific archaeological context of these early discoveries forces us to link these depictions with versions of the Rāmāyaṇa story in the earliest known Buddhist texts, translations of which are available to us in Chinese and Pali.
Research Interests: Iconography, Buddhist Studies, South Asian Studies, Buddhist Iconography, Indian ancient history, and 11 moreSouth Asian Archaeology, History of Art, Jatakas, Indian Art, Buddhist art and architecture, Terracotta Figurines, Ramayana, Ancient Indian Archaeology, Ancient India, Ancient Indian Art and Architecture, and Pali/Sanskrit Literature
This essay is about the history of dice in India. It is, in fact, one from a series on museological matters, concerning the nature of the narratives of India mobilized for the thematic arrangement of galleries. The display of Indian... more
This essay is about the history of dice in India. It is, in fact, one from a series on museological matters, concerning the nature of the narratives of India mobilized for the thematic arrangement of galleries. The display of Indian heritage in museums is usually in galleries organized according to religion, like Hindu art, Buddhist art and Jain art, which imposes many limitations to what can be displayed. It furthers the perception that the cultural history of Indian people is dominated by their religious identity. This is an old, orientalist and colonial paradigm in which South Asia was cast. While its popularity may have enabled a profound depth of understanding the aesthetics of religious communication, iconographic studies and even the preservation of religious monuments, it has also arrested the museums' growth and role in shaping other forms of cultural identity -- heritage and cultural history is about many things, and religion is only one part of a cultural history. This article explores just one type of object and speculates on how the material remains of games of dice can be used to intersect with all manner of histories: leisure, warfare, gender and religion.
Research Interests: Archaeology, Art History, Museum Studies, Material Culture Studies, Material culture of religion, and 12 moreSouth Asian Studies, Recreation & Leisure Studies, Indian ancient history, Narrative and Identity, Museology, Indian Art, Board Games, Games, Indus Valley (Pakistan) Prehistory and Protohistory, History of Exhibitions, Indian Art History, and Ancient Indian Art and Architecture
Jaideva Singh, one of the most widely published scholars of Sanskrit of the 20th century, specialised in Kashmir Shaivism and Madhyamaka philosophy. However, he was also the Chief Music Producer of All India Radio and authored the most... more
Jaideva Singh, one of the most widely published scholars of Sanskrit of the 20th century, specialised in Kashmir Shaivism and Madhyamaka philosophy. However, he was also the Chief Music Producer of All India Radio and authored the most comprehensive book on the history of Indian music. In this detailed interview, illustrated with archival letters, we get a view on how he guided his disciple, the classical vocalist Shanno Khurana through advanced stages of learning music: both classical and folk, as well as training her in the field of musicology. Her reminisces provide us with a means to understand the intentions with which the traditional guru-shishya parampara was modernised, without compromising on the depth or variety of traditional pedagogy.
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This paper considers many images of deities that we have not previously accounted for from a Buddhist perspective. Moving beyond conjectural reconstructions of the shared worldviews of image consumption, it reveals images which are... more
This paper considers many images of deities that we have not previously accounted for from a Buddhist perspective. Moving beyond conjectural reconstructions of the shared worldviews of image consumption, it reveals images which are definitely Buddhist in their purport, indicating the regional variations of the Buddha biography, and expanding what we know of the type of narratives and myths that existed within a Buddhist context. There appear to be repeated references to a bodhisattva-like figure who may reference a variation in the imaging of Siddhārtha. However, there are other figures who appear to represent Maitreya. It examines the internment of a female figure usually called the ‘pañcacuda’-type from Buddhist relic deposits. It also presents previously unknown ivory relic-caskets from Bengal. The significance of this selection is to open a door into examining how small finds substantially enhance our understanding of the lived experience of what might have been practised by Buddhists in their homes, what sorts of medical needs they may have visited monasteries for, what they may have decorated private shrines with and what sorts of votive offerings they may have made—information we have had scant references to. Only the first page is uploaded here. The full paper can be found at: http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod_id=IS-9782503584508-1
Research Interests: Iconography, Art History, Buddhist Iconography, Buddhist Art, Ancient Religion, and 8 moreSouth Asian Archaeology, Early Historic Period (South Asian Archaeology), Buddhist art and architecture, Terracotta Figurines, Indian Archaeology and History of Art, Ancient Indian Archaeology, early Buddhism, and Ex-Voto
This essay takes forward previous research on a statue of Hariti in the British Museum's collection further, beyond its iconography, to a social context. It details the historical importance of this image to reflect on how a single image... more
This essay takes forward previous research on a statue of Hariti in the British Museum's collection further, beyond its iconography, to a social context. It details the historical importance of this image to reflect on how a single image can be made to communicate to diverse people. By examining one sculpture carefully, I will argue in this chapter, that it is possible to isolate the different sources that contributed to creating this image in Gandhara, and that this was done quite deliberately, for the audience to be able to read the diversity that made up their society.
This challenges the overly simplistic binary terms: Indo-Greek and Greco-Buddhist which are generally used to describe Gandharan art. The essay begins by noting how Buddhism stipulated the terms at which Hariti was included in its purview. It attempts to answer if the anxieties of immigration and globalisation in antiquity were any different by concluding with a note on which historical sources that can be read to see how the culture of Gandhara was transforming by the third century AD, who it now regarded as the 'other', and how Brahmanical texts record the terms of assimilation and cultural shift.
This challenges the overly simplistic binary terms: Indo-Greek and Greco-Buddhist which are generally used to describe Gandharan art. The essay begins by noting how Buddhism stipulated the terms at which Hariti was included in its purview. It attempts to answer if the anxieties of immigration and globalisation in antiquity were any different by concluding with a note on which historical sources that can be read to see how the culture of Gandhara was transforming by the third century AD, who it now regarded as the 'other', and how Brahmanical texts record the terms of assimilation and cultural shift.
Research Interests: Ancient History, Archaeology, Iconography, Art History, Art Theory, and 14 morePostcolonial Studies, South Asia, Buddhist Iconography, Buddhist art and architecture, Roman Provincial Archaeology, Isis Cult, Transcultural Studies, Bactria, Hellenism, Indo-Greeks, Ancient India, Gandhara, Hariti, Ancient Indian Art and Architecture, Roman Archaeology, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
How does a single image communicate to diverse people? Attendant to globalisation is a fear of homogenising difference, and yet, what it has enabled, oftentimes, is a cosmopolitanism that allows for different local practices to coexist... more
How does a single image communicate to diverse people? Attendant to globalisation is a fear of homogenising difference, and yet, what it has enabled, oftentimes, is a cosmopolitanism that allows for different local practices to coexist even as some differences collapse.This essay examines some of these issues through a close reading of a remarkable ancient Buddhist sculpture of Hariti that comes from the vicinity of Peshawar in ancient Gandhara. Gandhara absorbed a variety of people and traditions--Central Asian, Indian, Iranian, Greek, West Asian and, as this research shows, even Egyptian. In such cases, images emerged as polyvalent, or sometimes, syncretic; however in this example, they also showed an awareness of difference.
Research Interests: Ancient History, Archaeology, Iconography, Art History, Globalisation and cultural change, and 19 moreBuddhist Studies, South Asia, Religious Pluralism, Indian ancient history, South Asian Archaeology, Ancient Greek Religion, Ancient myth and religion, Roman Iconography, Southeast Asian history, Buddhist art and architecture, Religious Studies, Transcultural Studies, Iconography and Iconology, Ancient Indian Archaeology, Gandhara, Peshawar, Gandhara, East West relations, Gandharan Studies, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
We impose stereotypical ways of perceiving the world, usually bracketing communities or places by their religions. India was typecast in particular ways in the 19th century. A land with jungles where man met the spirit of the wild, yogis... more
We impose stereotypical ways of perceiving the world, usually bracketing communities or places by their religions. India was typecast in particular ways in the 19th century. A land with jungles where man met the spirit of the wild, yogis who harnessed the deepest powers of the mind, destitutes who had no more want than the veracity of their tradition, valorous aryans who were also “warm and brown”, and profligate maharajas whose extravagance could outdazzle any other court of the world—the contrasts of temperament, habitat and colour, depth of spirituality and sumptuous sexuality became the standard fare of the clichés that typified India in the intellectual and artistic circles of the West at the height of colonialism. The narrative and display in most major museums in the West confirms these clichés.
Less well known is that this was accompanied by a strong move toward a particular vocabulary of abstraction in visual form, spiritual discourse, music and theatre. The exchanges with ideas Indian, and with Indians themselves, had a decisive impact that contributed to the eruption and shape of Modernism in the West. In his recently edited volume, Prof. Ahuja examines the great modern artists of Europe in light of their fascination with India.
Apart from touching on the foundations of New Age movements, this chapter also hints at how the modern perception of India fed back to India, and reconfirmed the Indian intelligentsia’s self-image. So enduring is this legacy that it has been invoked repeatedly: most famously in the 1960s hippie counter-culture, and again, today, with the rise of religiously grounded identity politics. Who were the key mediators of the idea of the magic of India to the modern world, and what was the nature of that mediation?
Less well known is that this was accompanied by a strong move toward a particular vocabulary of abstraction in visual form, spiritual discourse, music and theatre. The exchanges with ideas Indian, and with Indians themselves, had a decisive impact that contributed to the eruption and shape of Modernism in the West. In his recently edited volume, Prof. Ahuja examines the great modern artists of Europe in light of their fascination with India.
Apart from touching on the foundations of New Age movements, this chapter also hints at how the modern perception of India fed back to India, and reconfirmed the Indian intelligentsia’s self-image. So enduring is this legacy that it has been invoked repeatedly: most famously in the 1960s hippie counter-culture, and again, today, with the rise of religiously grounded identity politics. Who were the key mediators of the idea of the magic of India to the modern world, and what was the nature of that mediation?
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A museum’s audiences and curators come up with diverse narratives for the same exhibits depending on their own imperatives. The stories around objects are what make them relevant. This essay responds to the requirement for decolonization.... more
A museum’s audiences and curators come up with diverse narratives for the same exhibits depending on their own imperatives. The stories around objects are what make them relevant. This essay responds to the requirement for decolonization. Many discourses that have been uncomfortable for the establishment have gained enough ground for them to no longer be ignored by the museum. This so-called infamy is on account of changing social perception. The courage to bring it forward will keep the museum at the vanguard of knowledge.
At the same time, decolonization cannot be seen as a universal panacea for all that ails the world of museums / culture. It may be a more relevant narrative to explicate in some (colonizing) countries, but other issues are more urgent in formerly colonized countries. Post-colonial Indian concerns such as the erosion of vast habitats of forests, animals and people, atrocities of gender, communalism, casteism, the disregard for labour and marginalisation of various kinds are perhaps more pressing than can be addressed by addressing ‘decolonization’. Each of these is a narrative that would make other ministries in a government uncomfortable.
Big, ‘universal’ museums, however, have to cater to many different constituencies of interest groups. The starting point for this essay is the double-bind museums find themselves in: how will they protect the voices who bring them infamy, because even infamy is more acceptable than irrelevance.
At the same time, decolonization cannot be seen as a universal panacea for all that ails the world of museums / culture. It may be a more relevant narrative to explicate in some (colonizing) countries, but other issues are more urgent in formerly colonized countries. Post-colonial Indian concerns such as the erosion of vast habitats of forests, animals and people, atrocities of gender, communalism, casteism, the disregard for labour and marginalisation of various kinds are perhaps more pressing than can be addressed by addressing ‘decolonization’. Each of these is a narrative that would make other ministries in a government uncomfortable.
Big, ‘universal’ museums, however, have to cater to many different constituencies of interest groups. The starting point for this essay is the double-bind museums find themselves in: how will they protect the voices who bring them infamy, because even infamy is more acceptable than irrelevance.
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This essay examines the shifting role and possibilities in curating collections of historical Indian sculpture. Admitting a narrative of conflict can do much to involve public participation in contentious histories—whether of religiously... more
This essay examines the shifting role and possibilities in curating collections of historical Indian sculpture. Admitting a narrative of conflict can do much to involve public participation in contentious histories—whether of religiously guided destruction, atrocities based on gender or caste, silencing entire communities or sections of the population or, in more recent years, by admitting a history of colonialism in the public sphere. This essay takes specific case studies to show how museums can tell histories of conflict, and discusses why museums must. It seeks to explore how there are other kinds of histories of India that historical artefacts can tell alongside histories of religion and iconography which have, thus far, been the staple narrative of museums of Indian art worldwide.
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The archaeological mound at Sugh near Chaneti in District Jamunanagar (Ambala) has now all but disappeared, and its small but remarkable terracotta objects are being traded / collected in various parts of the world. Few however, know of... more
The archaeological mound at Sugh near Chaneti in District Jamunanagar (Ambala) has now all but disappeared, and its small but remarkable terracotta objects are being traded / collected in various parts of the world. Few however, know of the distinctive stylistic features of objects found in this region and they are frequently misunderstood as being from Mathura, Ahichhatra or, in some cases, from Indo-Greek Taxila, all of which are the better known sites that border Haryana and Punjab.
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Thousands of extraordinarily beautiful objects of terracotta, ivory and wood have been recovered from Bengal in the past 25 years. Can they really be genuine? The scientific and technical tests on them reveal most of them to be genuine,... more
Thousands of extraordinarily beautiful objects of terracotta, ivory and wood have been recovered from Bengal in the past 25 years. Can they really be genuine? The scientific and technical tests on them reveal most of them to be genuine, yet rumours are rife that the methods being used to forge them are more advanced than the scientific tests. By carefully examining each of these speculative rumours, this paper seeks to dispels that notion. In turn, it forces us to acknowledge that the larger body of this material that has been neglected by scholars, collectors, museums and archaeologists, is in fact, genuine. It's neglect is causing us to lose one of the greatest aspects of our heritage.
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Following on from the research presented in 'A Pantheon Rediscovered', this paper draws attention to the terracotta small-finds from the site of Sugh in Haryana. The objects are iconographically unusual: children learning the Brahmi... more
Following on from the research presented in 'A Pantheon Rediscovered', this paper draws attention to the terracotta small-finds from the site of Sugh in Haryana. The objects are iconographically unusual: children learning the Brahmi syllabary, dancers in asanas and mudras that are not known elsewhere and kingly figures in costumes that provide a unique glimpse into the lives of Ancient north Indians.
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A red velvet panel from a Rajput tent once in the Royal collection of Jaipur, on examination reveals a fascinating history of globalisation, the availability of South American, European and Central Asian materials to the Mughals causing... more
A red velvet panel from a Rajput tent once in the Royal collection of Jaipur, on examination reveals a fascinating history of globalisation, the availability of South American, European and Central Asian materials to the Mughals causing shifts in taste of the Rajputs. It was a locus for the creation of a new language and also social mobility. What do we know about the availability of luxurious velvet in India, how was it created, how was it used and what were the intentions behind selecting this object for display in the exhibition India and the World?
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Art History, Architecture, Globalization, Museum Studies, and 15 moreMobility/Mobilities, Vernacular Architecture, Museums and Exhibition Design, Urdu Literature, Migration Studies, Curatorial Studies and Practice, Cultural Anthropology, Mughal Architecture, Textile Technology, Textile Dyeing, Indo-Islamic Art and Architecture, Mughal painting, Textile, Color Psychology and Use of Colour, and Texts and Textiles / Material Culture / Oriental Carpets / Textile Theory
Afghan carpets with motifs of war, guns, tanks and planes, have become popular. Apart from Kabul, they are widely supplied by carpet sellers from Kashmir and Peshawar. How do we interpret this popularity? What does it mean to the society... more
Afghan carpets with motifs of war, guns, tanks and planes, have become popular. Apart from Kabul, they are widely supplied by carpet sellers from Kashmir and Peshawar. How do we interpret this popularity? What does it mean to the society that knots the instruments of their destruction into their art and what does it say about our consumption of these motifs?
Research Interests: Textiles, Material Culture Studies, Contemporary History, Identity (Culture), Afghanistan, and 8 moreCultural Tourism, Modern and contemporary crafts (Art), Traditional Crafts, Souvenirs, Oriental Rugs, Gandhara, Islamic textiles and carpets, and Texts and Textiles / Material Culture / Oriental Carpets / Textile Theory
Noble as their intentions are, many of the regulations governing heritage are having a constraining effect leaving important issues in the 'source' countries unaddressed. Our current global climate, and indeed the entire history of the... more
Noble as their intentions are, many of the regulations governing heritage are having a constraining effect leaving important issues in the 'source' countries unaddressed. Our current global climate, and indeed the entire history of the migrations since the second world war should force us to acknowledge that heritage needs to move with the communities who seek to make other parts of the world their home, rather than the land in which it was first made. Is identity linked more to a place or to a people? Robbing refugees and diasporic communities of their cultural patrimony to send it back to the nation state which they have fled, can be seen as perverse by human rights activists (and the UNHCR), even though it may be permissible under the 1970 UNESCO regulations on heritage. Rather than the ownership of a cultural asset globalisation should force greater resources to be deployed in the sharing of the knowledge that asset can generate. The co-production of knowledge is a better way for different nations to share the responsibility of ownership--whereby each can hold the other accountable to do their fair share.
This is a published text of paper spoken at the conference of the Association of Social Anthropologists, UK on the subject of ‘Arts & Aesthetics in a Globalising World’ held at JNU in 2012.
This is a published text of paper spoken at the conference of the Association of Social Anthropologists, UK on the subject of ‘Arts & Aesthetics in a Globalising World’ held at JNU in 2012.
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As much as the words of the Constitution are to shape our future, Nandalal Bose's illustrations invoked India's past. Reading the Indian Constitution through the lens of its art can create a productive tension for our present. Art history... more
As much as the words of the Constitution are to shape our future, Nandalal Bose's illustrations invoked India's past. Reading the Indian Constitution through the lens of its art can create a productive tension for our present. Art history can render it into an artefact, only to be read in the context of its times, or other manuscripts of its type. This article suggests an alternative way looking at the paintings and what they represent.
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This article bases itself on the premise that much can be learnt about the varied views around death and the afterlife from Indian visual culture—architecture, sculpture, paintings and prints, preserve evidence for beliefs and rituals... more
This article bases itself on the premise that much can be learnt about the varied views around death and the afterlife from Indian visual culture—architecture, sculpture, paintings and prints, preserve evidence for beliefs and rituals from times past that continue to exert their influence today in many ways. The family/society that people leave behind shape their afterlives on earth: positioning them in heaven, performing rituals to assist them in their passage to heaven, and even feeding and watering their spirits out of a sense of duty and in turn, setting standards for exemplary behaviour for their descendants. A violent death gives heroes and martyrs a place in heaven, they are remembered through sculpted memorials across India. Oftentimes, the fear of Judgement provides social control and ethical/moral behaviour. In keeping with those moral values, the living sometimes make elaborate provisions for their memorialisation orchestrating attempts at posterity for themselves and legitimising their descendants’/followers’ devotion to them through sculptural stelae, or monuments. The horrors of the varied hells the damned can be banished to are vividly painted in karni-bharni pictures, instilling a sense of fear amongst the living. Painted depictions of moment of death of the ardent followers of different deities show that the attainment of mokṣa is guaranteed to those who exhibit a requisite degree of piety and devotion. And paintings of Bhīṣma remind us how he waited to die at the appropriate time so as to secure a better afterlife.
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This article bases itself on the premise that much can be learnt about the varied views around death and the afterlife from Indian visual culture—architecture, sculpture, paintings and prints, preserve evidence for beliefs and rituals... more
This article bases itself on the premise that much can be learnt about the varied views around death and the afterlife from Indian visual culture—architecture, sculpture, paintings and prints, preserve evidence for beliefs and rituals from times past that continue to exert their influence today in many ways. The family/society that people leave behind shape their afterlives on earth: positioning them in heaven, performing rituals to assist them in their passage to heaven, and even feeding and watering their spirits out of a sense of duty and in turn, setting standards for exemplary behaviour for their descendants. A violent death gives heroes and martyrs a place in heaven, they are remembered through sculpted memorials across India. Oftentimes, the fear of Judgement provides social control and ethical/moral behaviour. In keeping with those moral values, the living sometimes make elaborate provisions for their memorialisation orchestrating attempts at posterity for themselves and legitimising their descendants’/followers’ devotion to them through sculptural stelae, or monuments. The horrors of the varied hells the damned can be banished to are vividly painted in karni-bharni pictures, instilling a sense of fear amongst the living. Painted depictions of moment of death of the ardent followers of different deities show that the attainment of mokṣa is guaranteed to those who exhibit a requisite degree of piety and devotion. And paintings of Bhīṣma remind us how he waited to die at the appropriate time so as to secure a better afterlife.
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The sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee drew inspiration from the way the forces of nature were represented, interpreted and even named in Ancient Indian temples and iconography. A study of her archive of photographs taken on extensive travels... more
The sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee drew inspiration from the way the forces of nature were represented, interpreted and even named in Ancient Indian temples and iconography. A study of her archive of photographs taken on extensive travels through India reveals what she looked at in the history of art, how she saw similarities with performance traditions and the time she spent driving through forests and the countryside. Was this inspiration from nature the same as it was with many others from Santiniketan? The forest performs an important role in Indian art and literature as a space of the 'other', a complementary binary. The essay concludes with how Mukherjee's work can be contextualised within a history of Indian art.
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This introduction to a collection of essays explores why it is difficult to be rid of the clichés that attach themselves to Asian art despite the educated liberals' valiant efforts at shedding them. It asks a more fundamental question... more
This introduction to a collection of essays explores why it is difficult to be rid of the clichés that attach themselves to Asian art despite the educated liberals' valiant efforts at shedding them. It asks a more fundamental question about the need for streotypes and 'othering'.
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The abstract artist Rudolf (Rapaport) Ray was educated in art and medicine in Vienna. He spent two long periods in India. This article contextualises the works he produced in his second sojourn when he was based in Almora, to bring to... more
The abstract artist Rudolf (Rapaport) Ray was educated in art and medicine in Vienna. He spent two long periods in India. This article contextualises the works he produced in his second sojourn when he was based in Almora, to bring to light the social and cultural networks he was part of.
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Trained as an artist by Nandalal Bose at Santiniketan, Devi Prasad was a famous ceramic artist and educator at Sevagram, Gandhi's ashram. There he honed a powerful philosophy on the joy derived from work by coalescing necessity and... more
Trained as an artist by Nandalal Bose at Santiniketan, Devi Prasad was a famous ceramic artist and educator at Sevagram, Gandhi's ashram. There he honed a powerful philosophy on the joy derived from work by coalescing necessity and creativity. The act of making 'art' or anything else of utility, gained paramountcy. He says: "For the creator, the doing aspect or the process of creating itself is often more important than the object of creation, irrespective of its success with the spectator, who experiences and enjoys the end result of the creator's effort — a beautiful object, a message, a communication or a combination of more than one of these elements."
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Hindu deities are frequently shown with their consorts in a variety of combinations, each cult developing ways to think more deeply about the balancing of opposing and complementing forces captured by the duality of the male and female... more
Hindu deities are frequently shown with their consorts in a variety of combinations, each cult developing ways to think more deeply about the balancing of opposing and complementing forces captured by the duality of the male and female deities. This short study focuses on the iconography and stylistic features of Kalachuri images of Lakshmi-Narayana.
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Indian astrologers often link a person’s fortunes to actions in previous lives, and many Indians acknowledge the role of the cosmos, the planets and asterisms in controlling the shape, ailments and fates of their bodies. In a cyclical... more
Indian astrologers often link a person’s fortunes to actions in previous lives, and many Indians acknowledge the role of the cosmos, the planets and asterisms in controlling the shape, ailments and fates of their bodies. In a cyclical conception of time, endings are followed by rebirth, or creation again. Why bother recreating, if it’s only going to end? How is desire rekindled? What caused the very first creation of energy that resulted in the formation of matter? Myths are laden with metaphors that play with these ideas, and with many nuances. There is no one answer to these questions and neither is there concord amongst Hindus, Buddhists or Jains about a single vision of the cosmos that is espoused by their faith. This short chapter was written to explain a context for the expression of these ideas in artworks for an exhibition in France in 2022.
Aside from religion, these ideas held sociological importance because they helped explain the individual’s place in the universe and their relationship with the divine; in turn addressing a person’s requirement to have a quest, and even self-worth. To that extent, this served also as a way to encourage social order and a habit to follow religious systems.
Aside from religion, these ideas held sociological importance because they helped explain the individual’s place in the universe and their relationship with the divine; in turn addressing a person’s requirement to have a quest, and even self-worth. To that extent, this served also as a way to encourage social order and a habit to follow religious systems.
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The contemporary artist Ali Kazim references archaeological artefacts and communicates them with the skill of a miniature painter on an amplified scale. He made evocative landscapes covered in shards of the past. My job as a historian is... more
The contemporary artist Ali Kazim references archaeological artefacts and communicates them with the skill of a miniature painter on an amplified scale. He made evocative landscapes covered in shards of the past. My job as a historian is to make sense of shards, even if they provoke me to think of bits of my own past, gluing bits together rather like Kintsukuroi.
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The Gandhian Brahmdeo Ram Pandit and his J.J. Art-School trained son Abhay Pandit run a craftsman’s small-scale production unit as well as an artists’ studio in Bhayander, Mumbai. This article takes us into their studio, their working... more
The Gandhian Brahmdeo Ram Pandit and his J.J. Art-School trained son Abhay Pandit run a craftsman’s small-scale production unit as well as an artists’ studio in Bhayander, Mumbai. This article takes us into their studio, their working practice and the materials they employ. Through that, it analyses the economy they have created, their relationship to pricing art and views on labour. It ends with a reflection of the legacy of Gandhian values on the Indian small-scale industry and the necessity for continuing government support for this economy.
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Museums in India are at a vulnerable juncture: the apathy of visitors and administration is well-known. Paradoxically, the display of religious art often upsets someone or the other's sensibilities and censorship is not uncommon.... more
Museums in India are at a vulnerable juncture: the apathy of visitors and administration is well-known. Paradoxically, the display of religious art often upsets someone or the other's sensibilities and censorship is not uncommon. Internationally too, the display of Indian art continues to be plagued by orientalist definitions. This paper outlines some curatorial strategies selected for the conceptualisation and display of The Body in Indian Art and Thought.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Art History, Museum Studies, Cultural Heritage, Indian studies, and 24 moreAnthropology of the Body, Religious Pluralism, Culture, Curating, Body Image, Museums and Exhibition Design, History of Art, Museums and Identity, Curatorial Practice (Art), Indian Art, Religious History, Exhibition Design (Architecture), Exhibition, Museum, Expositions and Worlds Fairs, Book Reviews, Exhibition Design, Museum and Heritage Studies, Indology, Indian Archaeology and History of Art, History of Exhibitions, Hindu Nationalism in Modern India, Art History, Exhibition History, Museum and Curating Studies, Art and Art History, Ancient Indian Art and Architecture, and Museum Administration
The retrospective on Devi Prasad at Lalit Kala was contextualised within the neglected history of the Arts and Crafts Movement in India and its impact on Coomaraswamy, Gandhi and Tagore, and the institutions they created, including... more
The retrospective on Devi Prasad at Lalit Kala was contextualised within the neglected history of the Arts and Crafts Movement in India and its impact on Coomaraswamy, Gandhi and Tagore, and the institutions they created, including Santiniketan and Sevagram.
Research Interests: Art History, Globalization, Photography, Early Childhood Education, Arts Education, and 17 moreHigh Temperature Ceramics, Pacifism, Curating, Ceramics (Art History), Modern and contemporary crafts (Art), Curatorial Practice (Art), Arts Education and Pedagogy, Arts-Based Research, Modern and Contemporary Art, Arts and Crafts, Ceramics, Rabindranath Tagore, Arts-Based Participatory Action Research, Gandhian Studies, Arms Control and Disarmament, Swadeshi Movement, and Santiniketan
The first major exhibition of Indian and Himalayan art in Spain was held as the inaugural show at Casa Asia in Barcelona in 2003. It comprised unparalleled masterpieces from American and European collections.
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This exhibition catalogue of the work of the contemporary artist Desmond Lazaro accompanied his first solo-show. It was held at Chemould Prescott Road Mumbai in 2008.
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Lepakshi: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting Authors: Anna L. Dallapiccola, Brigitte Khan Majilis and George Michell with John M. Fritz Photography: Surendra Kumar Publisher: Niyogi Books, New Delhi Year of Publication: 2019 ISBN:... more
Lepakshi: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting
Authors: Anna L. Dallapiccola, Brigitte Khan Majilis and George Michell with John M. Fritz
Photography: Surendra Kumar
Publisher: Niyogi Books, New Delhi
Year of Publication: 2019
ISBN: 978-93-86906-90-8
Authors: Anna L. Dallapiccola, Brigitte Khan Majilis and George Michell with John M. Fritz
Photography: Surendra Kumar
Publisher: Niyogi Books, New Delhi
Year of Publication: 2019
ISBN: 978-93-86906-90-8
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The metalware from ancient Gandhara reveals a remarkable variety. Instead of being regarded as derivative of Indian or Greek prototypes, it allows us to see Gandhara as a creative fount of knowledge, inventing and interpreting imagery.... more
The metalware from ancient Gandhara reveals a remarkable variety. Instead of being regarded as derivative of Indian or Greek prototypes, it allows us to see Gandhara as a creative fount of knowledge, inventing and interpreting imagery. The importance of the recent book on the al-Sabah collection, is reviewed here.
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IIC Quarterly Autumn 2014
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South Asian Studies Vol 28, March 2012
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What characterizes the terracotta art of the post-Mauryan period and what sort of histories can it be used to tell? How were they made, where are they found, who used them? This is a brief summary.
Research Interests: Archaeology, Art History, Ceramic Technology, South Asian Studies, Buddhist Iconography, and 7 moreIndian ancient history, Ceramics (Art History), Ceramic Analysis (Archaeology), South Asian Art, Buddhist art and architecture, Indian Archaeology and History of Art, and Ancient Indian Art and Architecture
What are the different types of temples in India and what function to they perform? Who are the deities they are made to house and what is the nature of the iconographic planning of temples? This Chapter is written for students of Class... more
What are the different types of temples in India and what function to they perform? Who are the deities they are made to house and what is the nature of the iconographic planning of temples? This Chapter is written for students of Class XI for the art-history textbook of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
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As Central Vista was getting demolished I wrote a piece for Caravan in August 2021 wondering why conservation does not have public appeal? The acceptance of the loss, or the hurry to build something new to make a mark, shows that the... more
As Central Vista was getting demolished I wrote a piece for Caravan in August 2021 wondering why conservation does not have public appeal? The acceptance of the loss, or the hurry to build something new to make a mark, shows that the ‘problem’ lies with historians who celebrate those who inaugurate something, but pay little attention to those who maintain it. Politicians and kings require scribes and publicists to ensure they are written into history, and will perform as per the rules set down by them--only if conservation were lauded in histories, can we hope patrons will wish to be seen as preservers of heritage rather than inventors. The support the central vista redevelopment project is receiving forces us to do a double-take on the shifts (art) history need to make.
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Obituary: Kapila Vatsyayan
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As Central Vista was getting demolished I wrote a piece for Caravan in August 2021 wondering why conservation does not have public appeal? The acceptance of the loss, or the hurry to build something new to make a mark, shows that the... more
As Central Vista was getting demolished I wrote a piece for Caravan in August 2021 wondering why conservation does not have public appeal? The acceptance of the loss, or the hurry to build something new to make a mark, shows that the ‘problem’ lies with historians who celebrate those who inaugurate something, but pay little attention to those who maintain it. Politicians and kings require scribes and publicists to ensure they are written into history, and will perform as per the rules set down by them--only if conservation were lauded in histories, can we hope patrons will wish to be seen as preservers of heritage rather than inventors. The support the central vista redevelopment project is receiving forces us to do a double-take on the shifts (art) history need to make.
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Why are museums important? They are invaluable keeper's of a nation's identities, preservers of cultural memory and heritage. What prevents India from giving them their due? If the government can't manage, how can the public be mobilised... more
Why are museums important? They are invaluable keeper's of a nation's identities, preservers of cultural memory and heritage. What prevents India from giving them their due? If the government can't manage, how can the public be mobilised to help?
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The erotic is frequently censored. Taking a contrary view to the idea that censorship is a necessary social responsibility, this essay reveals the rich history of eroticism in Indian art and its enormous (and fundamental) social value,... more
The erotic is frequently censored. Taking a contrary view to the idea that censorship is a necessary social responsibility, this essay reveals the rich history of eroticism in Indian art and its enormous (and fundamental) social value, and is, therefore, something that needs protection.
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South Asia is encountering a pace of development which is unlike ever in its history, as the population rises and more rural areas and hinterlands are converted into urban spaces, archaeological contexts are disturbed forever. And yet, no... more
South Asia is encountering a pace of development which is unlike ever in its history, as the population rises and more rural areas and hinterlands are converted into urban spaces, archaeological contexts are disturbed forever. And yet, no developer, (even when the developer is the government which is supposed to be the caretaker of heritage), reports the discovery of artefacts for fear that archaeologists may slow down or even stop construction at a site. The entire South Asian region has seemingly noble and strong laws to protect their heritage, they have departments of archaeology to enforce them and ministries of culture to administer them. Yet, these laws have only been partially successful over the past 30 years. They have now outlived their utility and become both regressive and counterproductive. This article explores some of these contradictions.
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This study explores the complexities around the laws that govern the collecting of art in India. It discusses the reforms suggested to the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, the fear of International smuggling of Indian heritage and... more
This study explores the complexities around the laws that govern the collecting of art in India. It discusses the reforms suggested to the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, the fear of International smuggling of Indian heritage and impossibility of implementing the law as it stands.
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The renowned Kathak dancer Damayanti Joshi's life was one of intricate balances on a tightrope. She shared a deep friendship with Shanno Khurana. This article records some of her reminisces.
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Op Ed (The Sunday Story), in The Hindu, National Edition, July 22, 2012.
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While the market for contemporary Indian art thrives, Indian antiquities, which the world has long admired, remain depressed. Why? This article explores why we need a reform to the Antiquities Act not merely to foster collecting, but... more
While the market for contemporary Indian art thrives, Indian antiquities, which the world has long admired, remain depressed. Why? This article explores why we need a reform to the Antiquities Act not merely to foster collecting, but salvage art which is being destroyed at a pace like never before.