MAP DIGITAL MUSEUM PRESENTS ART (IS) LIFE, A JOURNEY OF VISUAL ART TO VIRTUAL ART

While we continue to acclimatize to the novelty of current times; from Visual Art to Virtual Art: the Art world seems to have comfortably adapted to its own virtual version of ‘second life’.

Jamini Roy, Mother and Child, Tempera on Canvas,1930,
Map of Art and Photography

From the 5th to 11th of December, a week-long Virtual Art festival “Art (is) Life” was hosted by Museum of Art and Photography (MAP). The festival presented various interactive exhibitions with slide shows, short films, performances and hence elaborated on how art can take any shape and form, how art is indeed life itself.

Buri Bai, Untitled, Acrylic on handmade paper, 2018
Museum of Art and Photography

The opening night on 5th of December was all about a uniquely crafted sensorial experience of art through time, and time through art. Various eminent figures like lyricist Javed Akhtar, actor Shabana Azmi, classical dancer Malavika Sarukkai, film and theatre professional Arundhati Nag, actor and filmmaker Nandita Das, art historian Dr B N Goswamy, visual artist Jitish Kallat, author and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, and singer Kavita Seth lend their voices, bringing together art, poetry, dance and music with a virtual exploration of the museum.

Manjit Bawa, Krishna eating the fire, Oil on Canvas,1980
Museum of Art and Photography

The following consecutive days consisted of curated exhibitions that showcased the museum’s various departments: from folk and tribal to pre-modern art, photography, and textile, craft and design. Introductory sessions were conducted by the Historian William Dalrymple, designer Ritu Kumar and artist Rekha Rodwittiya, where they elaborated on the MAP’s extensive collection. The events also consisted of intriguing dance, theatre and musical performances themed on artworks. For instance, a jazz-fusion piece by Rajeev Raja and his band evoking pichwais of Lord Krishna and a theatre piece by Ram Ganesh Kamatham and Mallika Prasad responding to Vivek Vilasini’s Last Supper, a metaphorically seated Kathakali dancers, as a recreation of Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Last supper.’