Happenings

Musical Baithak
Haman Hai Ishq Mastana
A Musical Baithak in Tribute to Haku Shah
Venue: KNMA Saket

8 January 2020

On 8^th January 2020, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Saket hosted a musical baithak ‘Haman Hai Ishq Mastana’ celebrating the spirit of Haku Shah with the music of the group Char Yaar with singer composer, vocalist poet Madan Gopal Singh, sarod artist Pritam Ghosal, guitar artist Deepak Castelino and Amjad Khan on Tabla. The evening opened with the spellbinding singing by Vidya Shah who recited Kabir as well as Faiz Ahmad Faiz. The group Chaar Yaar whose lead vocalist Madan Gopal Singh spoke about his association with the late Haku Shah and his philosophy. He sang songs of Kabir, Bulleh Shah, Baba Farid, Bob Dylan and Rabindra Nath Tagore. The event was opened by Sh. Ashok Vapeyi and attended by music and art lovers alike.

Happenings

Walkthroughs

6 November 2019

Walkthroughs for the exhibitions on display in Saket and Noida were arranged for various groups including members of the German Federal Foreign Office & directors of German Museums, members of Critical Collective and students from Delhi University for the month of October.

Ishita Dey and Mohammad Sayeed, researchers for the exhibition ‘Smell Assembly’ conducted special walkthroughs followed by interactive sessions to discuss the concept and purpose behind the show.

KNMA also hosted 15 zardosi and Chikankari artisans from Lucknow mentored by Kalhath Institue. They were given a guided walkthrough followed by a discussion that draw from contemporary artistic elements in their craft and design.

Happenings

Curated Walkthroughs

31 December 2019

Rohit Raj Mehndiratta and Vandini Mehta, curators of the exhibition STRUCTURING FORM: The Innovative Rigour of Mahendra Raj gave weekly curated walkthroughs to a diverse audience of students, architects, artists and enthusiasts.

Happenings

Spice Sensorium smell Walk

24 November 2018

KNMA and Sensing the city team organised a Spice Sensorium smell Walk on 24 November, 9-11am in Khari Baoli, Chandni Chowk, New Delhi. This smell walk is part of a larger research and community project ‘Smells of the city: scents, stench and stink’ supported by Kiran Nadar Museum of Art under Incubator Projects curated by Akansha Rastogi

Smells surround us. Sometimes we can recognize one from the other. But mostly we can’t. A little subtle and they are ignored altogether. A little louder and they become intimidating. People have their own smells. So do houses. Streets too. And the cities, cities are known by their smells – different for different areas and changing with the time of the day and even seasons.

But, how much do we know about smells. Do we have enough words to talk about them? Surely we can distinguish some by their names. But most we know through some or other associations. Smell of this or smell of that. As if cultures never thought of having dedicated words for distinct smells. Smells are intimate. They are like whispers, hence the emphasis on subtlety. To let a smell go wild is to shout out a secret in public.

Project is anchored by Dr. Ishita Dey, food anthropologist and faculty of Sociology at South Asian University & Dr. Mohd. Sayeed, urban anthropologist and Faculty at Department of Sociology, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi.

About the walk

Each culture has a unique relationship with spices. Wars were fought over control of spice routes. Cities maintained armies to guard spice loaded ships. Spices determined the rise and fall of cities. Many cities across the globe host spice markets. The spice market in Shahjahanabad is known to predate the history of the Shahjahanabad. Though the area is known as Khari Baoli, there is no sight of step well but a series of shops lined with spices.

In this smell trail we will walk through the by lanes of old Delhi and engage with how cultures have adopted and adapted spices in their everyday food, rituals and festivities. In this smell walk we take you to Khari Baoli and share spice smells. Welcome onboard ! Sensing the city is organising this walk in collaboration with Pallavi of Delhi Galiyara.

Spice Sensorium Itinerary of the walk is as follows:

For this smell walk we collaborated with Pallavi (of Delhi Galiyara), who is a photographer, runs a digital platform and she is trying to document Delhi from the perspective of a flaneuse. She specializes in organizing night walks.

Each culture has a unique relationship with spices. Wars were fought over control of spice routes. Cities maintained armies to guard spice loaded ships. Spices determined the rise and fall of cities. Many cities across the globe host spice markets. The spice market in Shahjahanabad is known to predate the history of the Shahjahanabad. Though the area is known as Khari Baoli, there is no sight of step well but a series of shops lined with spices.

In this smell trail we will walk through the by lanes of old Delhi and engage with how cultures have adopted and adapted spices in their everyday food, rituals and festivities. In this smell walk we take you to Khari Baoli and share spice smells. Welcome onboard!

1. Sense & the city

What is the relation between heritage and spice smells? As our engagement in Old Delhi deepened we realised the smell object our team was working with had close connections to the trade history of Chandni Chowk. As we brace ourselves to walk through alleys and by lanes it is important to relive the space of Shahjahanabad which is commonly known as heritage. Walking is a political act. Recent debates on access to infrastructures of walking also reveals that there is a need to have open spaces. Spaces where people could loiter, gather for a cup of tea, have a meal break, buy their necessities and also release themselves. Each of these activities has a smell. Lanes of today’s Shahajahanabad embodies these sensorium. Yet, there are spaces also that evoke a distinct smell. A walk to Khari Baoli remains incomplete without sensing how spices are used across lanes of Chandni Chowk. A walk to Khari Baoli is about Khari Baoli. A walk at Khari Baoili is about Chandni Chowk.

2. Spice of everyday

Our first stop is at a nondescript eating place by the name Vinod Dhaba. Popular with byaparis, what caught our attention was the bottles adorning their tables. Why do we keep certain spices as condiments? Is there a variety of spices that are used as condiments? We will introduce you two spices commonly known as namak and mirch. There are various versions of namak and mirch across regional cuisines in India. We smell, taste and sense one such version of namak and mirch.

3. Sniff and tell!

We stop at a spot which has been known to preparing smell objects since 1816. Since a year, we have been sniffing around the making of smell objects in and around Chandni Chowk. Spices inform a key component in smell objects such as essential oils, and attar.

We share with you a glimpse from our field diaries and we play a small game – Sniff and tell! It is said our brains can store smells for a year. We hope if you are able to guess the smell it stays with memories of sensing the city.

4. Smells of association

Walking has always been associated as a solitary exercise. Loitering or strolling has had a negative connotation. People who loiter or stroll around have been looked down with suspicion. However, loitering allows us to take unchartered pathways, there is no fear of missing a stop and there is a luxury of haulting where you wish. It is the pace that makes walking leisurely. As we walk upto Khari Baoli we get to sniff around the morning smells of bread pakora, kachori being fried in ghee. A bit of fragrance of betel leaf might also intrude your senses and there is always a hint of milk tea, the quintessential of an Indian Street.

5. Smells of conquest

Spices were always items of conspicuous consumption. Taking inspiration from the book Taste of Conquest by Michael Krondl we give you a glimpse of spice world that were central to the spice route and the spices that caused the rise and fall of three cities – Venice, Lisbon and Amsterdam. This book probes us to think how spices were transported through waterways. Cloves and nutmegs were brought in from Moluccas (or Malaku islands), writes Krondl. Indians, Chinese, Arabs, and Jews exchanged silver and gold for nutmeg and pepper along the Indian coast. After loading pepper ships would travel from Indian Ocean to the Red and Arabian Seas. Spice was so precious that Venetians decided to transport spices in armed convoy designed to safeguard spice laden vessels. They were called Muda. Pepper, Krondl emphasizes was the king of spices. These light jewels did not need much attention, could be easily stored and transported by ‘ship, camel, and mule’.

6. Smells of secrets

“Each spice has a special day to it. For turmeric it is Sunday, when light drips fat and butter-colored into the bins to be soaked up glowing, when you pray to the nine planets for love and luck.”

― Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Mistress of Spices

Each smell has a secret. Can we represent smells? We invite you to loiter along the main lane of Khari Baoli dotted with shops. Take 15 minutes to loiter around in groups of three and think of corresponding smell lexicon. It can be in any language of your choice. For instance, Asfoetida : Fishy, Jeera : Bland, Chilli : Fear

7. Smells of healing

Smelling spices was also considered to have therapeutic value. It is no wonder that Michael Krondl comments “ In Byzantium, as the connection to ancient Rome faded, spices began to leach from the apothecary’s cabinet to stew pot… Spices remained important in the physician’s medical kit, their therapeutic value appreciated …”. Are spices used in healing practices?

8. Smell-notes

Smells, our study has shown has notes. It can be low, mild, slightly mild, intense and too intense. Our last stop would be an encounter with burst of intense smells. Be prepared to wear masks!

Happenings

Astad Deboo performance – A Dream Of Sunrise

25 October 2018

Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, Mumbai in collaboration of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Delhi hosted a scintillating performance ‘A Dream of Sunrise’ by the globally renowned dancer artist Astad Deboo. Deboo, born in 1947 is an Indian contemporary dancer and choreographer, employs his training in Indian classical dance forms of Kathak as well as Kathakali to create a dance form that is unique to him, and is a pioneer of modern dance in India. His practice involves a keen interest in understanding unconventional performance spaces and costumes, and he often plays around these themes to choreograph a work. Likewise, his performance at CSMVS was a response to the spatial environ of visual artist Jayashree Chakravarty’s exhibition ‘EARTH AS HEAVEN – under the canopy of love’ curated by Roobina Karode. He moved through and among the artworks reflecting on the porous luminosity of Jayashree’s scrolls, providing a unique dimension to the space of display.

‘Earth as Haven’ rhymes with and alludes to heaven, and perhaps to a utopian desire, but Jayashree Chakravarty in this exhibition is more significantly immersed in retrieving the earth as a place of refuge and shelter for all visible and invisible forms of life. A play of camouflage, quite like in nature offers sudden moments of surprise and discovery, often challenging the naked eye, demanding a microscopic investigation. Jayshree Chakravarty was educated at Santiniketan and she graduated in Fine Arts from the Viswa Bharati University, Santiniketan, in 1978 and obtained a post-graduate diploma from M.S.University, Baroda, in 1980. She lives and works out of Paris. This event was partly supported by Akar Prakar. 

Happenings

Shadow Puppet theatre by A Muthulakshmana Rao & troupe

1 October 2018

KNMA hosted a mesmerizing evening of Thol Pavai Koothu – shadow puppet theatre from Tamil Nadu by A. Muthulakshmana Rao & Troupe of Theni district, Tamil Nadu. Rao hails from Genguvarpatti in Theni district and whose family has been performing ‘Thol pavai koothu’ for generations. They performed a narrative based on the story of 'Kishkinda Kandam', an episode of Ramayana. He, along with his troupe members- M. Kalimuthu, Rajaram, M.Manikandan. he has vast experience of performing in many places in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India. He is also a recipient of many awards.

Shadow puppeteers create performances, by manipulating leather puppets, between a light source and the screen. Today’s cinema owes a lot to the shadow puppet theatre. They can be considered as original filmmakers before the technology of camera and projection came in.  In India the shadow puppet theatre is called by different names and ‘Thol Pavai Koothu' in Tamil Nadu. The event was organized as collateral to the ongoing video art show 'Delirium // Equilibrium' curated by Roobina Karode. The hour long theatre show transformed the exhibition space, catapulting the audience from a high-tech video art exhibition to a puppet theatre style dating back to ages ago."

Happenings

Gayatri Sinha Walk-through on 24th October 2018

10 October 2018

Gayatri Sinha held a detailed walk through of the exhibition ‘Envisioning Asia – Gandhi and Mao in the photographs of Walter Bosshard’ curated by Gayatri Sinha and Peter Pfrunder at KNMA Saket. Gayatri held the hour long walk-through of the special exhibition and spoke at length about the body of photographs shot by Swiss photojournalist Bosshard and his assignments to cover political figures and events of the 20th century, especially the years before World War II. She also described how in her curatorial endeavor along with Pfrunder, they have been able to situate world leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Mao Zedong, together in this exhibition. Highlighting that although both these towering figures were using completely different political strategies, but their goals were same – of political self-determination and independence, apart from both of them being men of charisma and wider connect with people. However, the photographs speak loudly of differences between their mannerisms and idiosyncrasies and that’s where the curatorial intent takes shape, as explained by Gayatri. The walk was amply attended by keen art lovers and by students of photography.

Happenings

Zardozi artists group visit + walk

29 September 2018

On 29th September 2018 KNMA hosted a group of around 20 Zardozi artists all the way from Lucknow. These artists were led by Kalhath Institute who have been touring various traditional as well as contemporary art institutes in Delhi. At the initiation of Manisha Gera Baswani, the group visited the video art show currently on view at the museum. They tried to understand the visuality of the video art exhibition from the perspective of their training in design. Some works especially Sonia Khurana’s House anatomy, and the looped video technique held special interest for the group as they continuously engage in looped patterns and visuals in their own embroidered works as well. A post walk discussion also allowed them to speak about their own work as artists and also to share their reflections on the exhibition.

Happenings

Roobina Karode on Himmat Shah’s ‘Hammer on the Square’

8 July 2016

Curator of the major retrospective of artist Himmat Shah ‘Hammer on the Square’ at KNMA, Roobina Karode, conducted a walkthrough, and was joined by the artist himself in elaborating on various aspects of the show and his works. Karode shared personal insights, anecdotes from Shah’s life, and the immense diversity of processes that Shah has been incorporating in his work. She took the large audience through Shah’s extensive body of work: from fine line drawings, to baked terracotta, to bronze metal sculptures to reimagining common found objects and then to the immanence of his burnt paper collages that the retrospective attempted to capture. Karode emphasized that the beauty and grandiose of Himmat Shah’s body of work resides in his inherent defiance to be clubbed into one single medium. In describing Shah’s work, Karode compares his to an “alchemist” in metamorphosing his medium and material in the most versatile ways.

Happenings

Foundation of Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) workshop

10 December 2016

FICA facilitators Bhooma Padmanabhan and Nilanjana Nandy invited tiny tots to visit and respond to the retrospective exhibition of artist Jeram Patel at KNMA. The visit was meticulously planned for the children aged 7-8 years who have been regularly attending the FICA art classes. Inspired by Jeram Patel’s powerful works the workshop introduced the idea of abstraction in art in fun ways after an engaging tour of the exhibition.