Search results for: 'From Colonial to National: Appropriating the Past in Service of the Present'

A workshop by Priyank Patel, from the Department of Geography, Presidency University, for ages 16 and above, on mapmaking in the colonial and postcolonial era and how maps of Calcutta (and later, Kolkata) were shaped through these different ways of knowing the world.

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At the three-day show, DAG will present Celebrating the Modern, an ode to the vibrancy of Indian art with a hand-picked selection that guides us through the development of Indian modernism through diverse movements and genres—a tribute to its appeal that has extended beyond time to be part of a distinctive global language.

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At the three-day show, DAG will present Celebrating the Modern, an ode to the vibrancy of Indian art with a hand-picked selection that guides us through the development of Indian modernism through diverse movements and genres—a tribute to its appeal that has extended beyond time to be part of a distinctive global language.

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Born in 1907, Gobardhan Ash came into his own as an artist at a time when Indian art was in a state of historical flux, when the imagination of young artists was infused with the spirit of country’s freedom from colonial rule. He trained at the Government College of Art in Calcutta from 1926-30, and at the Government School of Arts and Crafts, Madras, till 1932. He was an active member of various artist collectives such as the Calcutta Group that he joined in 1950, the Art Rebel Centre, and the Young Artists Union, of which he was a founder member. Learn More

Khagen Roy hailed from Medinipur in present-day West Bengal and came to Calcutta to study art. However, he left the Government School of Art in Calcutta as well as the College of Arts and Crafts in Lucknow dissatisfied with their curriculum. A chance encounter with painter and sculptor D. P. Roy Chowdhury convinced him to join the Government College of Art and Craft, Madras. Learn More

Drawing from the Greek word skhedios, meaning ‘to extemporize’, the sketch presents an interiorized, psychological landscape against classical painting’s heroic, externalized construction of the painted tableau. For many artists, sketching and drawing suggest initial explorations for capturing moods, relations and subjectivities that can be expanded through later applications of paint and texture.

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Often described as ‘Poetry in Stone’, the Taj Mahal was laid out between 1631-43 by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is the architectural elements of the Taj complex that grab the most attention, but in fact the garden is the heart of the complex . The visitors today are so transfixed by the Taj itself that they remember very little of the garden. DAG Archive attempts to illustrate the  life and ‘afterlife’ of the Taj gardens, once its control was taken over by the British. This archive deep dive showcases the objects from A. E. P. Griessen’s (1875–1935) collection.

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Born in an educator’s family on 7 April 1934 in a small town in Gujarat, Natvar Bhavsar studied to be a drawing teacher and began his career in Chanasma. He then joined the C. N. School in Ahmedabad for its five-year diploma course in art offered by Sir J. J. School of Art; simultaneously, he continued to study for his master’s in teaching art. Learn More

A presentation and workshop with artist Hiran Mitra to examine intersecting ideas of montage-collage-assemblage in art-making.

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DAG, in collaboration with the Indian Museum, presents a carnival of games inspired by the artists and art from the DAG collection. Spread over two days on the magnificent lawns of the museum, 'Play Fair' is an invitation to immerse yourself in Bengal art, ending with an after hours concert by The Big Other.

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An interactive presentation by artist Sarmistha Bose on her contemporary engagement with pulp and natural fiber as a creative medium.

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An artist whose eponymously named art institution groomed some important Indian modern artists such as Ram Kumar and J. Swaminathan, Sarada Charan Ukil was an early pioneer of the Bengal School. Born on 14 November 1888 in Bikrampur near present-day Dhaka, Ukil shifted later to Calcutta with his family and studied at the city’s Government Art School under Abanindranath Tagore. Learn More