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Treasures from Rajasthan will be showcased for the first time in British Museum, writes Arifa Akbar THE British Museum has announced plans for a spectacular six-month season showcasing Indian art and culture to mark the country’s emergence as an economic superpower.
Indian Summer, a big-budget extravaganza starting in May next year, will bring together an exhibition of monumental paintings never before seen in Europe, as well as installations, performances, film screenings and the construction of an Indian garden, complete with banyan trees, in the museum’s vast forecourt. The highlight of the season, which is to be staged until October 2009, is an exhibition of 55 paintings called Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur. The paintings will be taken to Europe from Rajasthan for the first time. It will feature a loan of 55 works from the Mehrangarh Museum Trust in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and focus on the distinctive style of court painting which flourished in the region during the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. Mr MacGregor added: "Garden and Cosmos epitomises this diversity through the polarities expressed in the paintings, focusing on both the external courtly life of pleasure on the one hand and an internal life of devotion and speculation on the other." The museum is also
creating an Indian-themed landscape on the museum’s west lawn in
collaboration with Kew Gardens. It will stress the significance of
plants in Indian culture, for food, India Landscape, running from 2 May to 28 September, will take visitors on a journey from the mountainous environment of the Himalayas, through a temperate region and ending in a sub-tropical zone centred on a pool filled with lotus flowers. The museum’s focus will now turn to India as "another emerging superpower". Neil MacGregor, director of the museum, said, "There is an enduring fascination with the rich diversity of the art and culture of India. With a huge Indian population in London and the UK, and as India becomes more and more involved in our economic, cultural, political and social life, it is the perfect moment for an Indian Summer." The British Museum is not alone in its focus on India. A number of galleries around the world are staging shows on Indian art and culture this winter. Indian Highway at London’s Serpentine Gallery incorporates architecture, art, literature and performance. — By arrangement with The Independent
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The exhibition will feature 55
paintings from the Mehrangarh Museum Trust in Jodhpur. The paintings will be taken to Europe from Rajasthan for the first time. The focus will be on the distinctive style of court painting, which flourished in the region during the 18th and 19th centuries. 