The DAG brought a strong repository of art from Bengal spanning the modern epoch of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries to Mumbai. The Babu & The Bazaar unravels part of Calcutta’s history, culture, class biases and gendered hierarchies through rare historical artefacts that are over one hundred years old.
Post a successful showing in New Delhi, and Ahmedabad in 2023, DAG has opened the critically acclaimed The Babu & The Bazaar in Mumbai. The exhibition is an expansive showing of nineteenth and early twentieth century Bengal art that features watercolour ‘Kalighat’ pats—both religious and secular in their subjects—placed against comparable works across the genres of commissioned oil paintings and mass-produced prints alongside a selection of reverse-glass paintings from Canton.
The exhibition is curated by historian and scholar Aditi Nath Sarkarand attempts to unravel part of Calcutta’s history, its culture, class biases and gendered hierarchies featuring rare artworks that are over one hundred years old. People, Hindu deities, figures from mythological tales, as well as those from every-day life are the focus of this landmark exhibition. The exhibition will be on display at DAG, The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, until June 29, 2024.
Ashish Anand, CEO and MD of DAG says, “In three decades, DAG has built a strong repository of art from Bengal. While collating artworks, we realised that certain imageries were more prominent than others, which therefore could be found across all three categories, even though stylistically they may have differences. Bengal’s art has been showcased by DAG across India as well as internationally, and the company has exhibited extensively in Kolkata. This is an opportunity for us to look further back into the history and art of the land and the culture of its people.”
Inspired by the rich, flat colours of the pat drawings, the exhibition design for The Babu & The Bazaar celebrates the different artworks on display through colour and materiality. Highlight artworks are displayed on panels of indigo blue and vermillion red depending on the medium they belong to. These pops of colour are dispersed throughout the space, amidst a playful composition that allows the artworks to breathe. Archival objects and supplementary artworks are housed in open-based glass showcases, designed to complement the light and airy feel of the exhibition.
