Both India and Peru have a rich history between them. It is this richness in history that connects the two.
Recently the capital experienced an art exhibition of the colonial art of Peru, the paintings of the Cuzco school were displayed in the art gallery of IIC Annexe.
The pictures were anecdotal biblical narratives, hieratic figures of the virgin and saints, and gaily dressed archangels, as well as brightly colored tropical birds and idealized imaginary landscapes without reference to local geography.
Cuzco School of Painting is the most distinctive and major school of painting in Spain’s American colonies, which evolved during the 17th and 18th centuries in the old Inca capital of Cuzco. Indian and Mestizo artists transformed formal and iconographical types from European art to create a uniquely American style of religious painting, characterized by brilliant colours, flattened space, and a strongly decorative aesthetic.
The paintings of Divine shepherdess, Lord of the Earth quakes, Saint Francis of Assisi, Jesus before Caiaphas, Baby Saint John, Mother Marry with baby Jesus, Our Lady of Mount Caramel and few more were put on display.
On being asked that how will this impact the India and Peru relationship, Carlos Rafael Polo Castaneda, Ambassador of Peru to India replied, “,We are anticipating to outreach to different community, so basically we are planning to reach out to the people who are intrigued in culture. Some of the treasures that are imperial and are stored for people that picture interests them so that they can get excited about Peru and visit in near future.”
Talking about his own thoughts on these artworks, he adds, “The artwork is set quite unique, I think the most striking feature is the fact that all of the highlights are majorly involved and is typical from the Cuzco school, for example in one of the paintings you see the shape of a mountain in this artwork. (Referring to the Mother Mary with baby Jesus painting) this symbolizes mother earth from the front side, which is combined at the same time with more European imagery, so now this is brother co-syncretism, which are one of the few things we highlight.”
Scenecredic artists could create scenecredic arts that results in forming different cultures in something positive and that could also be applied to relationship between Peru and India, with such artworks. Mentioning his favourite artwork from the collection he says, “I think this piece of artwork (our lady of mount caramel) to be very colorful, I like the contrast of colors, the yellow’s, the blue’s there are sort of gold leaves, so I really like it.”
The exhibition is ongoing at IIC Annexe, till June 18.
