I am not much of an art person. I don’t get most of the art forms. In fact, it was the first time in my thirteen years I Delhi that I had stepped into the National Museum. I have previously written about the Kiran Nadar Musuem, but my wife had dragged me.
My wife dragged me this time too. Another part of the reason was I almost knew the awesome guy who had single handedly curated it. Another part of the reason was there were no paintings. I don’t get paintings, I may moan and breathe heavy, but there is no love. But I get 3d paintings – sculptures.
The exhibition is about the body in Indian art. And, not recent art. The sculptures are from all over the country and one may never get to see them in one place again. Photography was allowed, take a look below and you will see why.
A thousand year old statue of a Tamil soldier spilling his guts out, gods, ghouls, chamunda and dark creatures – the collection can be broadly termed as Hindu. But a very unsanitized, visceral and much more imaginative version than the one we currently practice.
