Sucked in by History

When art and history combined together. An exhibition aims to deliver the same and give a different side to India’s history with a goal to making art accessible to all.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated “Drishyakala”, an amalgam of four art exhibitions taking place under one roof at Barrack No. 4, Red Fort, Delhi. The exhibitions depict India’s history from the pre-historic era to the emergence of print medium and its contribution to the Indian Freedom Struggle.Paula Sengupta, Giles Tillotson, Pramod Kumar K.G. and Kishore Singh along with Paris-based scenographer Adriene Gardere have curated these exhibitions. According to organisers, the exhibitions blend history with art.

With the aim of maximum outreach, the exhibitions have small galleries such as “The Inner Eye: Art for the Visually Impaired” on each of the three floors. These galleries show tactile artworks accompanied by artwork text as audio and braille. In addition, there is a learning hub for children titled “Every Child is an Artist” which has regular programmes like workshops, curated walks, and poetry sessions for school and college students.

The first exhibition, “Oriental Scenery: Aquatints of India”, showing works of artists Thomas and William Daniell depict Indian architecture and landscape experienced through their travels across India.

The second exhibition, “A Portrait of Our People”, showcases works that capture a changing India through its people. The paintings are portraits of various kings, their consorts and Parsis.

The third exhibition, “Popular Prints & the Freedom Struggle”, highlights the emergence of print media and how the art of the printed picture became a tool to illustrate a new brand of nationalist literature while, at the same time, it was also a means to reproduce paintings made by the emerging Oriental artists of the time. It led to wider dissemination of an emerging nationalist ideal for popular imagination to subscribe to.  

The fourth exhibition, “Navratna: India’s National Treasure Artists”, showcases works India’s nine most renowned artists like Raja Ravi Varma, Rabindranath Tagore, Amrita Sher-Gil, Nicholas Roerich, Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Gaganendranath Tagore, Sailoz Mookherjea, Jamini Roy. Together, these artists represent a diversity of art traditions and movements but are unified by one common thread: a return to Indian roots through context, theme, subject and an engagement with identity.

Talking about the exhibition, Ashish Anand, MD & CEO, DAG, said, “The inspiration for Drishyakala comes from DAG’s core aim of democratising Indian art and taking it to a wider audience.”  He added that the idea to host the exhibition at the Red Fort germinated as it has an in-built museum hub. “Where better to showcase 300 years of Indian art than the historic Red Fort?” he said.

When asked about his thoughts on the notion that “Art is only for the privileged”, he disagreed. He said, “I truly believe that art belongs to the people. The art is and has been part of India’s civilisation and societal ethos and hence belongs to the people.” He was hopeful that art will be democratised, saying, “The fact that we are conducting outreach activities —with children, college students, the visually impaired, etc — in this historic space, we will further expand the possibilities of making art accessible to a larger audience.”

The exhibition is currently on and will continue till July 31.