Mammoth exhibition showcases 'The Body in Indian art'

A dancing nataraj statue from the Chola period encircled by apsaras in marble, black stone and other materials from different parts of the country, placed in the middle of decades old paintings of music, amidst lilting classical ragas seeks to transport visitors to National Museum here, back in time.
An array of artefacts and exquisite art objects ranging from the Harappan civilisation to modern times are now available for public viewing at the 'The Body in Indian Art' exhibition, which has sourced about 300 objects from 42 lenders both public and private institutions across the country.
Curated by art historian Naman P Ahuja, the eight-gallery exhibition explores through sculptures, paintings, masks, jewellery, amulets, posters, video installations, music clips and textiles, the complex understandings of the 'Body' in Indian art.

The 11-week exhibition till June 7 at the museum comes after a successful showing in Brussels as part of the art festival Europalia, which concluded recently.
"One of the things I was trying to do with this exhibition is to try and show more people how much our lives as contemporary Indians are governed by and related to our ancestors and our heritage. Does the art and history of 1000 years ago make any difference to my life today in a globalised world?," points out Ahuja, an Associate Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.
The curator, who has spent years exploring the storerooms (reserve collections) of numerous small regional museums, said he and his curatorial team located many objects that were not on public display. Some were even in the gardens of museums and had thus escaped any critical attention from scholars.