New Delhi
The might and beauty of the feminine life force has forever captured the imaginations of artists in diverse Indian folk and tribal art traditions. And now, focussing on the depiction of women as Devi or goddesses in Indian art, an ongoing exhibition in the Capital draws from the regional painting traditions of Kalighat, Madhubani, Mata ni Pachedi, Pichwai and folk art paintings of Assam, Bengal, and Odisha to showcase a riveting curation on the common theme of ‘Devi’.
The show is displaying about 70 works from the 6000-piece-strong collection of Siddhartha Tagore, curated by Seema Bhalla. Bhalla says: “I have gone through works of various regions, mediums and periods for this exhibition, and realised that the power of the goddess and the nature as a birth-giving force was felt even by people of the early civilisations. Different forms of art started making a visual vocabulary, as I was going through the collection.”
The curator adds that the goddess theme has been popular in Hindi cinema and the viewers often mistook the actors as real divinity and revered them with same emotions and sentiments as they experienced in the temples. The exhibition includes some of the ‘lobby cards’ of the movies based on goddess deities.
Visitors can also find shadow puppets and striking wooden sculptures of Karnataka at the exhibition, representing the village goddess revered locally.
Tagore, a gallerist and collector, says: “I’ve had this collection for 25-30 years. I used to travel at that time and acquire works directly from the artisans making them. The Bengal Patachitra art, for instance, mainly depicts tales from Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Manasa and Durga goddesses. On the subject of ‘Devi’, there are also film lobby cards on exhibition, which were cards put out in the lobbies before one entered the main cinema.”
Catch It Live
What: Devi
Where: India International Centre, 40, Max Mueller Marg
On till: December 29
Timing: 11am to 7pm
Nearest Metro Station: JLN Stadium on Violet Line
Author tweets @siddhijainn
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