'The body in Indian Art' opens
Source: The Sangai Express / Manipur Info Centre

New Delhi, March 14 2014 : How does Indian answer to the universal question on body? Dr Naman P Ahuja, Associate Professor of Ancient Indian Art and Architecture at Jawaharlal Nehru University defined the body through millennia, across region, religion and culture in the exhibition-'The Body in Indian Art' held at the National Museum, New Delhi.

The 11- week exhibition curated by Dr Naman P Ahuja was inaugurated by the Union Culture Secretary Ravindra Singh in the presence of the Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations Satish Mehta and the Director General of National Museum Dr Venu Vasudevan today.

Curator and Professor Dr Naman Ahuja divided "The Body of Indian Art" into thematic sections displayed in eight galleries, namely: Death: the body is but temporary; Antibodies: to image or not to image; Birth: the body becomes manifest; Astrology and cosmology: everybody is unique and divinely controlled; The body ideal: supernatural; The body ideal: heroic; The body ideal: ascetic; and Rapture: the body of art.

This exhibition importantly revealed the body not only as the subject of art, but also as the medium used to convey the values, preoccupations and aspirations of the times.

What emerges is a complex plurality where no gallery presents a singular view.

Through art, he showed the body as a site for defining individual identity, negotiating power, and experimenting with the nature of representation itself.

The Body in Indian Art brings together over 300 masterpieces from 44 India's museums, archaeological institutes, and private collections, in an exploration of the complex and multifaceted understandings of the 'Body'.

Ranging from monumental stone sculptures located in the storerooms of provincial small towns, to Chola bronzes from Tanjore, and manuscripts about magic painted for the Mughal Emperor Akbar from the fabled library of the Nawabs of Rampur, the exhibition provides the spectator with examples of artworks of unparalleled excellence, many of which have never before been publicly exhibited, nor published.

Talking to media, Dr Naman P Ahuja said that he collected the objects from across the country including the north east India.

Ritual and living traditions of Manipur is highlighted in the audio- visual form.

He put the exhibit- 'Naga Warrior' as the first exhibit which could be seen at the first glance of the visitors.

He took 20 years for the exhibition.

The exhibition was first participated at the international arts festival, Europalia 2013 held at Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Belgium from October 4, 2013 to January 26, 2014 .

Director General of national Museum Dr Venu Vasudevan said that the exhibition was spread across eight galleries on the first floor of National Museum and was of the largest temporary exhibitions ever mounted in the museum.

Shortly, he described it as an landmark exhibition held in the country.

Siddhartha Chatterjee and Sabine Theunissen are exhibition and graphic designers.

Renowned vocalist Vidushi Shanno Khurana scored the exhibition original music.

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