New Delhi, March 20: The age-old
inclusiveness of Indian culture is second to none globally and a landmark
exhibition currently on in the country’s capital mirrors its range and depth,
according to renowned art historian Neil MacGregor, who is director of the
British Museum.
‘The Body in Indian Art’, which
opened in National Museum last week showcasing a broad spectrum of aesthetics
in the representation of the human body, exemplifies the harmonious coexistence
of religions in the subcontinent over the past four millennia, the London-based
expert noted in a lecture here.
“Ideally, museums have to be a
secular space. The exhibition reveals its grand extent,” he said in his talk on
‘What can Exhibitions do for Museums’ which was the third in a monthly series
that brings together experts and practitioners from the field of world art and
culture for Indian audiences.
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| Dr Neil MacGregor, Director, British Museum, speaking at the Third National Museum Lecture at the National Museum, Delhi |
Dr MacGregor said it “is indeed
remarkable” that the National Museum has pulled together artefacts from over 40
institutions in the eleven-week show here, considering a general reluctance
among museums to lend their objects for exhibitions. “This, when there is a
surge in public appetite to view and experience cultures from across the
world,” added the speaker, who has been heading the British Museum in London
for 12 years after having been director of the National Gallery in the same
city.
On its part, the British Museum that
gets over 6 million visitors a year has been sending its artefacts for
exhibitions round the globe in a big way for the past two decades, earning not
just admirers from across regions and cultures but also triggering
fascinatingly different interpretations to the historical pieces. Redefining old
objects is a major benefit of such an exercise, which can also help museums
gross additional money through increased footfalls, he added.
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| Dr Neil MacGregor, Director, British Museum, speaking at the Third National Museum Lecture at the National Museum, Delhi (2) |
The lecture on Tuesday came amid the
March 14-June 7 show curated by Dr Naman P Ahuja of Jawaharlal Nehru University
here in association with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
“Objects mean different things to
different peoples,” Dr MacGregor said, recalling the variedly fascinating
response the esoteric Cyrus Cylinder got when British Museum showed the 6th
century BC artefact in four American cities in 2010.
While it was seen more as an art
object in the US, the Cyrus Cylinder was revered when it was displayed in
Tehran on a loan to the museum in Iran. Recently, it was exhibited in Mumbai as
well.
Similarly, an armchair throne made of
decommissioned (Western) weapons — a representation of the end of a bloody
civil war in Mozambique in the late 1970s — underwent a change of profile when
it was shown to a different audience. While the object gained its shape following
a peace-loving priest’s call to barter guns for gifts, its 2012 display in the
British Museum lent the exhibit a completely different perception: it is all
European ammunitions that are used in African battles.
International exhibitions can also conjure
up contemporary art inspired by ancient works, pointed out the 67-year-old
author who has played a vital role in British Museum’s recent leap from being
traditional to contemporary and popular. For example, an exhibition of a Roman
copy of the famed Greek ‘discus thrower’ sculpture of the 5th century BC
prompted a Chinese artist to mould a clothed version of it recently, he pointed
out, screening the contrasting image of middle-aged Sui Jianguo’s ‘Drapery
Folds’ work at Beijing Museum in 2012.
“When you lend an object, everyone
interprets it in his own way, in his own tradition…. We want museums to speak
to everybody, especially those who are not concerned about high cultural
objects…. Museums are the place where dialogues and discourses can take place
which is not possible in any other public place,” he contended.
Expounding on the theme, the art
historian said an exhibition in the British Museum on the Haj turned out to be
a crowd-puller, attracting a mixed and eclectic gathering and 40 per cent of
them were first-time visitors.
“Citizens across the globe feel they
share the inheritance, and museums have a central role to play in creating a
fusion through democratic discourses and dialogues,” he asserted.
Dr MacGregor is in India on the
occasion of the Third Leadership Training Programme for Museum Professionals
which is organised by the Union Ministry of Culture in collaboration with
British Museum. The annual project will train 20 young museum professionals in
museum management and leadership.
The participants at the training
range from museums at the national level (like Bhopal and Hyderabad) to small
private museums, say, in Kargil.
