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India's Royal Glory Captivates in 'Maharaja' Exhibit
India’s Royal Glory Captivates in ‘Maharaja’ Exhibit
By LISA TSERING
indiawest.com
October 31, 2011SAN FRANCISCO — A collection of 200-plus treasures from royal India, organized in collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum of London, is now on display at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco through April 8, 2012.
The North American premiere of “Maharaja: The Slendor of India’s Royal Courts” was celebrated Oct. 19 with the largest fundraising gala in the history of the museum, held in a lavishly decorated tent alongside the museum and emceed by Emmy-winning NBC anchor Raj Mathai. Real Indian royalty was even on hand for the event, in the person of Princess Asha Raje Gaekwad of Baroda (see separate story).
Present at the gala was event diamond sponsor Kumar Malavalli, who told the gathering, “The maharajas used their power and wealth to preserve India’s art and culture; they also supported local artists, artisans and craftsmen. Like them, you will realize the importance of preserving India’s art and culture.”
Also present was leading fashion designer Naeem Khan, who dresses First Lady Michelle Obama and Hollywood’s A-list. Khan, whose great grandfather was a craftsman of clothes for royalty, said, “India is always on my mind,” and added that he hoped t o increase awareness of the splendor of South Asian art through the medium of fashion.
The exhibit, which spans nearly three centuries, is presented in three tracks, beginning in the museum’s Lee Gallery. There, viewers are introduced to the concept of royal duty (rajadharma) and the strict behaviors demanded of India’s kings and queens; on display here is a throne room and examples of royal patronage of the arts and religious institutions. Next, in the Hambrecht Gallery, one can witness Indian royal spectacle — from a silver palanquin and video of a royal procession to weaponry, elaborate costumes and jewelry. The Osher Gallery is devoted to the history and shifting power of the dynasties and empires of India as they evolved after the decline of the Mughal Empire and other forces such as the Marathas, the Sikhs and the English East India Company took hold.
Highlights include the lavish diamond Patiala necklace, Cartier’s largest single commission in history; a horse-drawn carriage decorated entirely in silver, made for the Maharaja of Bhavnagar in 1915; and the gold-embossed throne of Hafiz Muhammad Multani of Lahore c. 1820. The exhibit includ es portraits of rulers such as Amar Singh II of Mewar depicted as a haloed “ideal king,” and depictions of life in the royal court and key moments in history up till the 1930s.
A contemporary series by commissioned local artist Sanjay Patel also offers up themes and images done with clever and colorful computer graphics (Patel will get a show of his own at the museum from Nov. 11).
The Asian Art Museum’s associate curator of South Asian art, Qamar Adamjee, told India-West that it’s especially important for Indian Americans to experience the exhibit.
“First of all, it brings a very rich culture into high profile. There are so many South Asians to whom this culture belongs,” she told India-West.
“But also what this exhibition does is [depict] the shared history between India and Pakistan. It goes beyond modern political differences between people and nation states. To me, being Pakistani and working on this show, that was one of the things that impressed me and made me passionate about it.”
The timing of “Maharaja” has some irony to it, in this era of “Occupy Wall Street,” “We Are the 99%,” the Arab Spring and even the populist movement of Anna Hazare in India; there also seems to be a general anti-elite mood here in the United States and especially in liberal San Francisco. The presenters of “Maharaja” are aware of this and also see the works in a broader global context.
“We are celebrating the wealth and status of these kings, but also trying to look at what made a good king — kings who actually cared about their people,” Anna Jackson, lead curator of the show from the Victoria & Albert Museum, told India-West.
“Now, the royalty has been stripped of that kind of status, but it’s interesting how quite a few of them remained influential members of the community. People trust them more than they might trust the politicians!
“I might be generalizing slightly, but these are people who care about their people and many of them, as well as opening their collections as museums, are quite involved in philanthropic work, some are politicians. The idea is to serve,” Jackson said.
Adamjee noted, “Our presidents, our political leaders, are trying to be ideal rulers in their own way. They are men of State, and some of them use their religious righteousness as giving greater authority to their politics. They are grand public figures and everybody still comes out to hear the grand presidential address.
“Even in our own personal lives, we use dress, we use what we wear and don’t wear as our markers of identity,” Adamjee told India-West.
“So I think these are the elements that become evident more so through a historical lens than we can see in our own lives. We ourselves are using designer labels to say something about our tastes and our positions, real or perceived or aspirational. It’s that human element that once you start going through this exhibition you can see it come through.
“That is a connecting point between people who may ask the question: ‘Why am I looking at all this glittery art by these rich people that lived somewhere far across the world 400 years ago?’”
For more information on the “Maharaja” exhibit and related activities, visit www.asianart.org or call (415) 581-3500
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (415) 581-3500 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
Copyright 2011 India-West Publications Inc. This article may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.
