The world’s largest institution of 18th to 20th century Indian art offers an unparalleled glimpse of the eclectic diversity that has powered art practices in the subcontinent.
Welcome to the complete
world of Indian art
The world’s largest institution of 18th to 20th century Indian art offers an unparalleled glimpse of the eclectic diversity that has powered art practices in the subcontinent.
The Right Ambience
for Viewing Art
DAG has always ensured an immersive art-viewing experience with its galleries and museum-exhibitions located in thoughtfully designed spaces with an underlying sensitivity towards architectural accents.
The Right Ambience
for viewing Art
DAG has always ensured an immersive art-viewing experience with its galleries and museum-exhibitions located in thoughtfully designed spaces with an underlying sensitivity towards architectural accents.
A one-stop destination
for Indian art
India’s largest art institution with commercial galleries to acquire art and build collections, museum collaborations to view collections, and a range of programming and services that provide a comprehensive platform for the art collector, viewer or art lover.
A one-stop destination
for Indian art
India’s largest art institution with commercial galleries to acquire art and build collections, museum collaborations to view collections, and a range of programming and services that provide a comprehensive platform for the art collector, viewer or art lover.
A one-stop destination
for Indian art
DAG has always ensured an immersive art-viewing experience with its galleries and museum-exhibitions located in thoughtfully designed spaces with an underlying sensitivity towards architectural accents.
ON VIEW
India's Rockefeller Artists
An Indo-US Cultural Saga
India’s Rockefeller Artists showcases iconic works of the Indian painters and sculptors who travelled to the US on philanthropic grants from the JDR 3rd Fund (1963–1979) and later through the Asian Cultural Council. These artists were exposed to American art and shared their own learnings and experiences through these enriching cultural exchanges. The show examines how and why these artists were selected; their relationships with each other and the American art milieu; the impact of the experience on their work; and the creation of a community of Rockefeller artists.
‘Iconic Masterpieces’ brings together the finest instances of art created in the country by Western and Asian travelling artists and Indian masters spread a little over two centuries. Each work in this ‘Iconic’ exhibition is significant in taking forward the legacy of pre-modern and modern art, creating a dialogue around the simultaneity of different practices suggestive of its diversity and richness.
The second edition of ‘Iconic Masterpieces’ is travelling to Mumbai where it will be on display across both its galleries at The Taj Mahal Palace, Colaba, from 27 May 2023 onwards.
Ongoing
The Taj Mahal Palace, Apollo Bunder Road, Colaba, Mumbai
DAG announces the first-ever retrospective on the artist Shanti Dave spanning his career from 1950 till 2014. Curated by Jesal Thacker, Neither Earth, Nor Sky dedicated to India’s first major abstractionist, features more than eighty works capturing the artist’s journey from figuration to abstraction including larger than life abstract paintings. Opening on 15 July 2023 in New Delhi.
In our latest issue of the Journal, read about the ways in which artists have represented various forms of travelling on the mountains; our interview with the Smithsonian's curator Carol Huh for a show on Indian contemporary photography and more.
DAG ACQUIRES THE 75-YEAR-OLD JAMINI ROY HOUSE IN KOLKATA TO OPEN INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUM
In March 2023, the historic home of Jamini Roy was acquired by DAG, for the express purpose of creating India’s first world-class single-artist museum and cultural resource centre on the life, work and times of this pioneering artist.
Jamini Roy Sarani
Ballygunge Place, Kolkata
On View
Soliloquies of Solitude: Five Indian Abstractionists in the West
Bringing together five Indian abstractionists whose practice, largely away from India, was nevertheless rooted in their experiences, ‘Soliloquies of Solitude: Five Indian Abstractionists in the West’ explores the works of two printmakers and three painters—Zarina Hashmi, Krishna Reddy, Ambadas, Rajendra Dhawan and Sohan Qadri. Opening at DAG Mumbai from 2 April 2023.
Despite Jamini’s amazing popularity, exhibitions on the artist have been inexplicably rare—an anomaly ‘Living Traditions & the Art of Jamini Roy’ hopes to remove with this intimate exhibition that includes Roy’s extensive range of subjects that he would frequently re-visit and features paintings that depict music and dance traditions, endearingly simple images of the mother and child, mythology—both Hindu and Christian—that hold universal appeal.
Opening at DAG 1, The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai from 2 April 2023 onwards.
2023 marks the relocation and launch of DAG’s flagship gallery at the national capital in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi on Janpath. The gallery opened to the public on 11 February 2023 with one of the most historic exhibitions curated in the city titled ‘Iconic Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art - Edition 02'. Designed by architectural firm Morphogenesis, the exhibition galleries have doubled DAG’s current space in the city while providing viewers an immersive experience in which to view art.
22 A, Janpath Road,
Windsor Place, New Delhi
Museums Programme
Digital Museum Initiatives
Over 180 artworks and artefacts from DAG’s museums and archive collection are now on view online. Accompanied by interactives stories, timelines, videos and detailed captions for ease of interpretation, this digital museum is a significant step towards DAG’s vision of making art accessible to all.
For our latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans. We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes.
For our 'Artists as Collectors' series we explored the collection of the Kolkata-based artist and illustrator Hiran Mitra, which featured works by Partha Pratim Deb and Gopal Ghose, among others; and we highlight journeys undertaken by Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee. And don't forget to read our term of the month: En plein air.
DAG ACQUIRES THE 75-YEAR-OLD JAMINI ROY HOUSE IN KOLKATA TO OPEN INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUM
In 1949, Jamini Roy moved from his modest Baghbazar home in north Calcutta to the genteel neighbourhood of Ballygunge Place, at the time an open area with bungalows in a neighbourhood occupied by professionals. Here, as his practice grew, so did his family, and the artist added rooms and floors to the home in which he lived till his passing away in 1972. Four years later, the Government of India declared him a National Treasure artist. In March 2023, the historic home of India’s most loved modernist was acquired by India’s most respected art company, DAG, for the express purpose of creating India’s first world-class private single-artist museum and cultural resource centre on the life, work and times of this pioneering artist.
India has a lacuna of professionally run private art museums and there are no professionally run single-artist museums in the country, a gap that DAG hopes to fill with the restoration of the 75-year-old historical house with the help of conservation architects and designers. The Jamini Roy House Museum is envisioned as a tribute to the artist, and the values of simplicity, creativity and universalism that he espoused.
DAG’s new address in New Delhi
DAG was established in New Delhi in 1993 and the capital has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the country’s largest and most respected art institution. It began in 1993 at Hauz Khas Village, which was then a sleepy outpost in the city with a historic character. But once the village became a trendy address for bars, lounges and fashion boutiques, DAG felt the need for a new location in keeping with its mandate of accessibility as well as the right environment in which to view art. The gallery, therefore, re-located to The Claridges in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi where its exhibitions proved a grand success.
To serve the ambitious nature of DAG’s growth, the need for larger galleries was soon felt. The new galleries are located on Janpath adjacent to Windsor Place within walking distance of hotels and the city’s shopping districts. With two galleries, it can host two simultaneous exhibitions or a single larger one. A rooftop terrace is ideal for events, conversations and other activities DAG may want to host from time to time.
Digital Museum Initiatives
DAG takes a significant step towards its vision of making art accessible for all, allocating over 180 artworks and archival artefacts from the collection to its Museums Programme. With the launch of the new website, these works are now on view online.
The works on view as a part of the digital museum are drawn primarily from DAG’s historic collection of Bengal art, ranging across the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. It provides a unique resource for art lovers to explore the evolution of art in the region, at a time when Calcutta became a hub for global exchanges as the capital of the British Empire. Starting with experiments with academic art in the early days of the colony, the collection traverses the artistic developments of the Swadeshi period and the tumultuous years before and after Independence. In addition, there are a range of photographs and objects from DAG’s archives, presented as capsule collections that delve into specific micro-histories, and open up new areas of research.
Accompanied with illustrated stories, timelines and videos this growing online collection brings the museum experience into our homes and is envisioned as an enduring resource that can be savoured over time for learning, analysis and simply for the love of art!
The Art Lab is a travelling, popup museum that takes art into schools, making DAG’s extensive collection directly accessible to young people. Over two weeks, students immerse themselves in the exhibition and take over as artists, researchers, and curators to create their own museum. The exhibition is modular by design, and by the end of the process it takes a completely different shape and form as students intervene with their ideas and creative expressions.
Art Lab also engages with the wider community, with students across different classes, parents, local officials, and partner schools who visit the exhibition on Open House days when the classroom is teeming with the energy and engagement of a busy day at the museum. As a part of Art Lab, DAG also offers a workshop for teachers where they explore simple tools for integrating art in their lessons, and build shared knowledge about art based pedagogies.
Started in Kolkata in April 2022, Art Lab has now travelled to six schools, adding a Bengali module for first generation learners so that the programme can be accessed widely, across socio-economic barriers, as the museum travels across the country.
Four latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans.
We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes and feature Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee.
Journal: Edition 5
For our latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans. We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes.
For our 'Artists as Collectors' series we explored the collection of the Kolkata-based artist and illustrator Hiran Mitra, which featured works by Partha Pratim Deb and Gopal Ghose, among others; and we highlight journeys undertaken by Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee. And don't forget to read our term of the month: En plein air.
DAG ACQUIRES THE 75-YEAR-OLD JAMINI ROY HOUSE IN KOLKATA TO OPEN INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUM
In 1949, Jamini Roy moved from his modest Baghbazar home in north Calcutta to the genteel neighbourhood of Ballygunge Place, at the time an open area with bungalows in a neighbourhood occupied by professionals. Here, as his practice grew, so did his family, and the artist added rooms and floors to the home in which he lived till his passing away in 1972. Four years later, the Government of India declared him a National Treasure artist. In March 2023, the historic home of India’s most loved modernist was acquired by India’s most respected art company, DAG, for the express purpose of creating India’s first world-class private single-artist museum and cultural resource centre on the life, work and times of this pioneering artist.
India has a lacuna of professionally run private art museums and there are no professionally run single-artist museums in the country, a gap that DAG hopes to fill with the restoration of the 75-year-old historical house with the help of conservation architects and designers. The Jamini Roy House Museum is envisioned as a tribute to the artist, and the values of simplicity, creativity and universalism that he espoused.
DAG’s new address in New Delhi
DAG was established in New Delhi in 1993 and the capital has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the country’s largest and most respected art institution. It began in 1993 at Hauz Khas Village, which was then a sleepy outpost in the city with a historic character. But once the village became a trendy address for bars, lounges and fashion boutiques, DAG felt the need for a new location in keeping with its mandate of accessibility as well as the right environment in which to view art. The gallery, therefore, re-located to The Claridges in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi where its exhibitions proved a grand success.
To serve the ambitious nature of DAG’s growth, the need for larger galleries was soon felt. The new galleries are located on Janpath adjacent to Windsor Place within walking distance of hotels and the city’s shopping districts. With two galleries, it can host two simultaneous exhibitions or a single larger one. A rooftop terrace is ideal for events, conversations and other activities DAG may want to host from time to time.
Digital Museum Initiatives
DAG takes a significant step towards its vision of making art accessible for all, allocating over 180 artworks and archival artefacts from the collection to its Museums Programme. With the launch of the new website, these works are now on view online.
The works on view as a part of the digital museum are drawn primarily from DAG’s historic collection of Bengal art, ranging across the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. It provides a unique resource for art lovers to explore the evolution of art in the region, at a time when Calcutta became a hub for global exchanges as the capital of the British Empire. Starting with experiments with academic art in the early days of the colony, the collection traverses the artistic developments of the Swadeshi period and the tumultuous years before and after Independence. In addition, there are a range of photographs and objects from DAG’s archives, presented as capsule collections that delve into specific micro-histories, and open up new areas of research.
Accompanied with illustrated stories, timelines and videos this growing online collection brings the museum experience into our homes and is envisioned as an enduring resource that can be savoured over time for learning, analysis and simply for the love of art!
The Art Lab is a travelling, popup museum that takes art into schools, making DAG’s extensive collection directly accessible to young people. Over two weeks, students immerse themselves in the exhibition and take over as artists, researchers, and curators to create their own museum. The exhibition is modular by design, and by the end of the process it takes a completely different shape and form as students intervene with their ideas and creative expressions.
Art Lab also engages with the wider community, with students across different classes, parents, local officials, and partner schools who visit the exhibition on Open House days when the classroom is teeming with the energy and engagement of a busy day at the museum. As a part of Art Lab, DAG also offers a workshop for teachers where they explore simple tools for integrating art in their lessons, and build shared knowledge about art based pedagogies.
Started in Kolkata in April 2022, Art Lab has now travelled to six schools, adding a Bengali module for first generation learners so that the programme can be accessed widely, across socio-economic barriers, as the museum travels across the country.
Four latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans.
We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes and feature Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee.
Journal: Edition 5
For our latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans. We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes.
For our 'Artists as Collectors' series we explored the collection of the Kolkata-based artist and illustrator Hiran Mitra, which featured works by Partha Pratim Deb and Gopal Ghose, among others; and we highlight journeys undertaken by Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee. And don't forget to read our term of the month: En plein air.
DAG ACQUIRES THE 75-YEAR-OLD JAMINI ROY HOUSE IN KOLKATA TO OPEN INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUM
In 1949, Jamini Roy moved from his modest Baghbazar home in north Calcutta to the genteel neighbourhood of Ballygunge Place, at the time an open area with bungalows in a neighbourhood occupied by professionals. Here, as his practice grew, so did his family, and the artist added rooms and floors to the home in which he lived till his passing away in 1972. Four years later, the Government of India declared him a National Treasure artist. In March 2023, the historic home of India’s most loved modernist was acquired by India’s most respected art company, DAG, for the express purpose of creating India’s first world-class private single-artist museum and cultural resource centre on the life, work and times of this pioneering artist.
India has a lacuna of professionally run private art museums and there are no professionally run single-artist museums in the country, a gap that DAG hopes to fill with the restoration of the 75-year-old historical house with the help of conservation architects and designers. The Jamini Roy House Museum is envisioned as a tribute to the artist, and the values of simplicity, creativity and universalism that he espoused.
DAG’s new address in New Delhi
DAG was established in New Delhi in 1993 and the capital has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the country’s largest and most respected art institution. It began in 1993 at Hauz Khas Village, which was then a sleepy outpost in the city with a historic character. But once the village became a trendy address for bars, lounges and fashion boutiques, DAG felt the need for a new location in keeping with its mandate of accessibility as well as the right environment in which to view art. The gallery, therefore, re-located to The Claridges in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi where its exhibitions proved a grand success.
To serve the ambitious nature of DAG’s growth, the need for larger galleries was soon felt. The new galleries are located on Janpath adjacent to Windsor Place within walking distance of hotels and the city’s shopping districts. With two galleries, it can host two simultaneous exhibitions or a single larger one. A rooftop terrace is ideal for events, conversations and other activities DAG may want to host from time to time.
Digital Museum Initiatives
DAG takes a significant step towards its vision of making art accessible for all, allocating over 180 artworks and archival artefacts from the collection to its Museums Programme. With the launch of the new website, these works are now on view online.
The works on view as a part of the digital museum are drawn primarily from DAG’s historic collection of Bengal art, ranging across the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. It provides a unique resource for art lovers to explore the evolution of art in the region, at a time when Calcutta became a hub for global exchanges as the capital of the British Empire. Starting with experiments with academic art in the early days of the colony, the collection traverses the artistic developments of the Swadeshi period and the tumultuous years before and after Independence. In addition, there are a range of photographs and objects from DAG’s archives, presented as capsule collections that delve into specific micro-histories, and open up new areas of research.
Accompanied with illustrated stories, timelines and videos this growing online collection brings the museum experience into our homes and is envisioned as an enduring resource that can be savoured over time for learning, analysis and simply for the love of art!
The Art Lab is a travelling, popup museum that takes art into schools, making DAG’s extensive collection directly accessible to young people. Over two weeks, students immerse themselves in the exhibition and take over as artists, researchers, and curators to create their own museum. The exhibition is modular by design, and by the end of the process it takes a completely different shape and form as students intervene with their ideas and creative expressions.
Art Lab also engages with the wider community, with students across different classes, parents, local officials, and partner schools who visit the exhibition on Open House days when the classroom is teeming with the energy and engagement of a busy day at the museum. As a part of Art Lab, DAG also offers a workshop for teachers where they explore simple tools for integrating art in their lessons, and build shared knowledge about art based pedagogies.
Started in Kolkata in April 2022, Art Lab has now travelled to six schools, adding a Bengali module for first generation learners so that the programme can be accessed widely, across socio-economic barriers, as the museum travels across the country.
Four latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans.
We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes and feature Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee.
Journal: Edition 5
For our latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans. We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes.
For our 'Artists as Collectors' series we explored the collection of the Kolkata-based artist and illustrator Hiran Mitra, which featured works by Partha Pratim Deb and Gopal Ghose, among others; and we highlight journeys undertaken by Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee. And don't forget to read our term of the month: En plein air.
DAG ACQUIRES THE 75-YEAR-OLD JAMINI ROY HOUSE IN KOLKATA TO OPEN INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUM
In 1949, Jamini Roy moved from his modest Baghbazar home in north Calcutta to the genteel neighbourhood of Ballygunge Place, at the time an open area with bungalows in a neighbourhood occupied by professionals. Here, as his practice grew, so did his family, and the artist added rooms and floors to the home in which he lived till his passing away in 1972. Four years later, the Government of India declared him a National Treasure artist. In March 2023, the historic home of India’s most loved modernist was acquired by India’s most respected art company, DAG, for the express purpose of creating India’s first world-class private single-artist museum and cultural resource centre on the life, work and times of this pioneering artist.
India has a lacuna of professionally run private art museums and there are no professionally run single-artist museums in the country, a gap that DAG hopes to fill with the restoration of the 75-year-old historical house with the help of conservation architects and designers. The Jamini Roy House Museum is envisioned as a tribute to the artist, and the values of simplicity, creativity and universalism that he espoused.
DAG’s new address in New Delhi
DAG was established in New Delhi in 1993 and the capital has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the country’s largest and most respected art institution. It began in 1993 at Hauz Khas Village, which was then a sleepy outpost in the city with a historic character. But once the village became a trendy address for bars, lounges and fashion boutiques, DAG felt the need for a new location in keeping with its mandate of accessibility as well as the right environment in which to view art. The gallery, therefore, re-located to The Claridges in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi where its exhibitions proved a grand success.
To serve the ambitious nature of DAG’s growth, the need for larger galleries was soon felt. The new galleries are located on Janpath adjacent to Windsor Place within walking distance of hotels and the city’s shopping districts. With two galleries, it can host two simultaneous exhibitions or a single larger one. A rooftop terrace is ideal for events, conversations and other activities DAG may want to host from time to time.
Digital Museum Initiatives
DAG takes a significant step towards its vision of making art accessible for all, allocating over 180 artworks and archival artefacts from the collection to its Museums Programme. With the launch of the new website, these works are now on view online.
The works on view as a part of the digital museum are drawn primarily from DAG’s historic collection of Bengal art, ranging across the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. It provides a unique resource for art lovers to explore the evolution of art in the region, at a time when Calcutta became a hub for global exchanges as the capital of the British Empire. Starting with experiments with academic art in the early days of the colony, the collection traverses the artistic developments of the Swadeshi period and the tumultuous years before and after Independence. In addition, there are a range of photographs and objects from DAG’s archives, presented as capsule collections that delve into specific micro-histories, and open up new areas of research.
Accompanied with illustrated stories, timelines and videos this growing online collection brings the museum experience into our homes and is envisioned as an enduring resource that can be savoured over time for learning, analysis and simply for the love of art!
The Art Lab is a travelling, popup museum that takes art into schools, making DAG’s extensive collection directly accessible to young people. Over two weeks, students immerse themselves in the exhibition and take over as artists, researchers, and curators to create their own museum. The exhibition is modular by design, and by the end of the process it takes a completely different shape and form as students intervene with their ideas and creative expressions.
Art Lab also engages with the wider community, with students across different classes, parents, local officials, and partner schools who visit the exhibition on Open House days when the classroom is teeming with the energy and engagement of a busy day at the museum. As a part of Art Lab, DAG also offers a workshop for teachers where they explore simple tools for integrating art in their lessons, and build shared knowledge about art based pedagogies.
Started in Kolkata in April 2022, Art Lab has now travelled to six schools, adding a Bengali module for first generation learners so that the programme can be accessed widely, across socio-economic barriers, as the museum travels across the country.
Four latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans.
We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes and feature Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee.
Journal: Edition 5
For our latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans. We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes.
For our 'Artists as Collectors' series we explored the collection of the Kolkata-based artist and illustrator Hiran Mitra, which featured works by Partha Pratim Deb and Gopal Ghose, among others; and we highlight journeys undertaken by Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee. And don't forget to read our term of the month: En plein air.
DAG ACQUIRES THE 75-YEAR-OLD JAMINI ROY HOUSE IN KOLKATA TO OPEN INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUM
In 1949, Jamini Roy moved from his modest Baghbazar home in north Calcutta to the genteel neighbourhood of Ballygunge Place, at the time an open area with bungalows in a neighbourhood occupied by professionals. Here, as his practice grew, so did his family, and the artist added rooms and floors to the home in which he lived till his passing away in 1972. Four years later, the Government of India declared him a National Treasure artist. In March 2023, the historic home of India’s most loved modernist was acquired by India’s most respected art company, DAG, for the express purpose of creating India’s first world-class private single-artist museum and cultural resource centre on the life, work and times of this pioneering artist.
India has a lacuna of professionally run private art museums and there are no professionally run single-artist museums in the country, a gap that DAG hopes to fill with the restoration of the 75-year-old historical house with the help of conservation architects and designers. The Jamini Roy House Museum is envisioned as a tribute to the artist, and the values of simplicity, creativity and universalism that he espoused.
DAG’s new address in New Delhi
DAG was established in New Delhi in 1993 and the capital has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the country’s largest and most respected art institution. It began in 1993 at Hauz Khas Village, which was then a sleepy outpost in the city with a historic character. But once the village became a trendy address for bars, lounges and fashion boutiques, DAG felt the need for a new location in keeping with its mandate of accessibility as well as the right environment in which to view art. The gallery, therefore, re-located to The Claridges in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi where its exhibitions proved a grand success.
To serve the ambitious nature of DAG’s growth, the need for larger galleries was soon felt. The new galleries are located on Janpath adjacent to Windsor Place within walking distance of hotels and the city’s shopping districts. With two galleries, it can host two simultaneous exhibitions or a single larger one. A rooftop terrace is ideal for events, conversations and other activities DAG may want to host from time to time.
Digital Museum Initiatives
DAG takes a significant step towards its vision of making art accessible for all, allocating over 180 artworks and archival artefacts from the collection to its Museums Programme. With the launch of the new website, these works are now on view online.
The works on view as a part of the digital museum are drawn primarily from DAG’s historic collection of Bengal art, ranging across the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. It provides a unique resource for art lovers to explore the evolution of art in the region, at a time when Calcutta became a hub for global exchanges as the capital of the British Empire. Starting with experiments with academic art in the early days of the colony, the collection traverses the artistic developments of the Swadeshi period and the tumultuous years before and after Independence. In addition, there are a range of photographs and objects from DAG’s archives, presented as capsule collections that delve into specific micro-histories, and open up new areas of research.
Accompanied with illustrated stories, timelines and videos this growing online collection brings the museum experience into our homes and is envisioned as an enduring resource that can be savoured over time for learning, analysis and simply for the love of art!
The Art Lab is a travelling, popup museum that takes art into schools, making DAG’s extensive collection directly accessible to young people. Over two weeks, students immerse themselves in the exhibition and take over as artists, researchers, and curators to create their own museum. The exhibition is modular by design, and by the end of the process it takes a completely different shape and form as students intervene with their ideas and creative expressions.
Art Lab also engages with the wider community, with students across different classes, parents, local officials, and partner schools who visit the exhibition on Open House days when the classroom is teeming with the energy and engagement of a busy day at the museum. As a part of Art Lab, DAG also offers a workshop for teachers where they explore simple tools for integrating art in their lessons, and build shared knowledge about art based pedagogies.
Started in Kolkata in April 2022, Art Lab has now travelled to six schools, adding a Bengali module for first generation learners so that the programme can be accessed widely, across socio-economic barriers, as the museum travels across the country.
Four latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans.
We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes and feature Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee.
Journal: Edition 5
For our latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans. We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes.
For our 'Artists as Collectors' series we explored the collection of the Kolkata-based artist and illustrator Hiran Mitra, which featured works by Partha Pratim Deb and Gopal Ghose, among others; and we highlight journeys undertaken by Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee. And don't forget to read our term of the month: En plein air.
DAG ACQUIRES THE 75-YEAR-OLD JAMINI ROY HOUSE IN KOLKATA TO OPEN INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUM
In 1949, Jamini Roy moved from his modest Baghbazar home in north Calcutta to the genteel neighbourhood of Ballygunge Place, at the time an open area with bungalows in a neighbourhood occupied by professionals. Here, as his practice grew, so did his family, and the artist added rooms and floors to the home in which he lived till his passing away in 1972. Four years later, the Government of India declared him a National Treasure artist. In March 2023, the historic home of India’s most loved modernist was acquired by India’s most respected art company, DAG, for the express purpose of creating India’s first world-class private single-artist museum and cultural resource centre on the life, work and times of this pioneering artist.
India has a lacuna of professionally run private art museums and there are no professionally run single-artist museums in the country, a gap that DAG hopes to fill with the restoration of the 75-year-old historical house with the help of conservation architects and designers. The Jamini Roy House Museum is envisioned as a tribute to the artist, and the values of simplicity, creativity and universalism that he espoused.
DAG’s new address in New Delhi
DAG was established in New Delhi in 1993 and the capital has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the country’s largest and most respected art institution. It began in 1993 at Hauz Khas Village, which was then a sleepy outpost in the city with a historic character. But once the village became a trendy address for bars, lounges and fashion boutiques, DAG felt the need for a new location in keeping with its mandate of accessibility as well as the right environment in which to view art. The gallery, therefore, re-located to The Claridges in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi where its exhibitions proved a grand success.
To serve the ambitious nature of DAG’s growth, the need for larger galleries was soon felt. The new galleries are located on Janpath adjacent to Windsor Place within walking distance of hotels and the city’s shopping districts. With two galleries, it can host two simultaneous exhibitions or a single larger one. A rooftop terrace is ideal for events, conversations and other activities DAG may want to host from time to time.
Digital Museum Initiatives
DAG takes a significant step towards its vision of making art accessible for all, allocating over 180 artworks and archival artefacts from the collection to its Museums Programme. With the launch of the new website, these works are now on view online.
The works on view as a part of the digital museum are drawn primarily from DAG’s historic collection of Bengal art, ranging across the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. It provides a unique resource for art lovers to explore the evolution of art in the region, at a time when Calcutta became a hub for global exchanges as the capital of the British Empire. Starting with experiments with academic art in the early days of the colony, the collection traverses the artistic developments of the Swadeshi period and the tumultuous years before and after Independence. In addition, there are a range of photographs and objects from DAG’s archives, presented as capsule collections that delve into specific micro-histories, and open up new areas of research.
Accompanied with illustrated stories, timelines and videos this growing online collection brings the museum experience into our homes and is envisioned as an enduring resource that can be savoured over time for learning, analysis and simply for the love of art!
The Art Lab is a travelling, popup museum that takes art into schools, making DAG’s extensive collection directly accessible to young people. Over two weeks, students immerse themselves in the exhibition and take over as artists, researchers, and curators to create their own museum. The exhibition is modular by design, and by the end of the process it takes a completely different shape and form as students intervene with their ideas and creative expressions.
Art Lab also engages with the wider community, with students across different classes, parents, local officials, and partner schools who visit the exhibition on Open House days when the classroom is teeming with the energy and engagement of a busy day at the museum. As a part of Art Lab, DAG also offers a workshop for teachers where they explore simple tools for integrating art in their lessons, and build shared knowledge about art based pedagogies.
Started in Kolkata in April 2022, Art Lab has now travelled to six schools, adding a Bengali module for first generation learners so that the programme can be accessed widely, across socio-economic barriers, as the museum travels across the country.
Four latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans.
We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes and feature Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee.
Journal: Edition 5
For our latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans. We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes.
For our 'Artists as Collectors' series we explored the collection of the Kolkata-based artist and illustrator Hiran Mitra, which featured works by Partha Pratim Deb and Gopal Ghose, among others; and we highlight journeys undertaken by Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee. And don't forget to read our term of the month: En plein air.
DAG ACQUIRES THE 75-YEAR-OLD JAMINI ROY HOUSE IN KOLKATA TO OPEN INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUM
In 1949, Jamini Roy moved from his modest Baghbazar home in north Calcutta to the genteel neighbourhood of Ballygunge Place, at the time an open area with bungalows in a neighbourhood occupied by professionals. Here, as his practice grew, so did his family, and the artist added rooms and floors to the home in which he lived till his passing away in 1972. Four years later, the Government of India declared him a National Treasure artist. In March 2023, the historic home of India’s most loved modernist was acquired by India’s most respected art company, DAG, for the express purpose of creating India’s first world-class private single-artist museum and cultural resource centre on the life, work and times of this pioneering artist.
India has a lacuna of professionally run private art museums and there are no professionally run single-artist museums in the country, a gap that DAG hopes to fill with the restoration of the 75-year-old historical house with the help of conservation architects and designers. The Jamini Roy House Museum is envisioned as a tribute to the artist, and the values of simplicity, creativity and universalism that he espoused.
DAG’s new address in New Delhi
DAG was established in New Delhi in 1993 and the capital has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the country’s largest and most respected art institution. It began in 1993 at Hauz Khas Village, which was then a sleepy outpost in the city with a historic character. But once the village became a trendy address for bars, lounges and fashion boutiques, DAG felt the need for a new location in keeping with its mandate of accessibility as well as the right environment in which to view art. The gallery, therefore, re-located to The Claridges in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi where its exhibitions proved a grand success.
To serve the ambitious nature of DAG’s growth, the need for larger galleries was soon felt. The new galleries are located on Janpath adjacent to Windsor Place within walking distance of hotels and the city’s shopping districts. With two galleries, it can host two simultaneous exhibitions or a single larger one. A rooftop terrace is ideal for events, conversations and other activities DAG may want to host from time to time.
Digital Museum Initiatives
DAG takes a significant step towards its vision of making art accessible for all, allocating over 180 artworks and archival artefacts from the collection to its Museums Programme. With the launch of the new website, these works are now on view online.
The works on view as a part of the digital museum are drawn primarily from DAG’s historic collection of Bengal art, ranging across the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. It provides a unique resource for art lovers to explore the evolution of art in the region, at a time when Calcutta became a hub for global exchanges as the capital of the British Empire. Starting with experiments with academic art in the early days of the colony, the collection traverses the artistic developments of the Swadeshi period and the tumultuous years before and after Independence. In addition, there are a range of photographs and objects from DAG’s archives, presented as capsule collections that delve into specific micro-histories, and open up new areas of research.
Accompanied with illustrated stories, timelines and videos this growing online collection brings the museum experience into our homes and is envisioned as an enduring resource that can be savoured over time for learning, analysis and simply for the love of art!
The Art Lab is a travelling, popup museum that takes art into schools, making DAG’s extensive collection directly accessible to young people. Over two weeks, students immerse themselves in the exhibition and take over as artists, researchers, and curators to create their own museum. The exhibition is modular by design, and by the end of the process it takes a completely different shape and form as students intervene with their ideas and creative expressions.
Art Lab also engages with the wider community, with students across different classes, parents, local officials, and partner schools who visit the exhibition on Open House days when the classroom is teeming with the energy and engagement of a busy day at the museum. As a part of Art Lab, DAG also offers a workshop for teachers where they explore simple tools for integrating art in their lessons, and build shared knowledge about art based pedagogies.
Started in Kolkata in April 2022, Art Lab has now travelled to six schools, adding a Bengali module for first generation learners so that the programme can be accessed widely, across socio-economic barriers, as the museum travels across the country.
Four latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans.
We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes and feature Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee.
Journal: Edition 5
For our latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans. We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes.
For our 'Artists as Collectors' series we explored the collection of the Kolkata-based artist and illustrator Hiran Mitra, which featured works by Partha Pratim Deb and Gopal Ghose, among others; and we highlight journeys undertaken by Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee. And don't forget to read our term of the month: En plein air.
DAG ACQUIRES THE 75-YEAR-OLD JAMINI ROY HOUSE IN KOLKATA TO OPEN INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUM
In 1949, Jamini Roy moved from his modest Baghbazar home in north Calcutta to the genteel neighbourhood of Ballygunge Place, at the time an open area with bungalows in a neighbourhood occupied by professionals. Here, as his practice grew, so did his family, and the artist added rooms and floors to the home in which he lived till his passing away in 1972. Four years later, the Government of India declared him a National Treasure artist. In March 2023, the historic home of India’s most loved modernist was acquired by India’s most respected art company, DAG, for the express purpose of creating India’s first world-class private single-artist museum and cultural resource centre on the life, work and times of this pioneering artist.
India has a lacuna of professionally run private art museums and there are no professionally run single-artist museums in the country, a gap that DAG hopes to fill with the restoration of the 75-year-old historical house with the help of conservation architects and designers. The Jamini Roy House Museum is envisioned as a tribute to the artist, and the values of simplicity, creativity and universalism that he espoused.
DAG’s new address in New Delhi
DAG was established in New Delhi in 1993 and the capital has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the country’s largest and most respected art institution. It began in 1993 at Hauz Khas Village, which was then a sleepy outpost in the city with a historic character. But once the village became a trendy address for bars, lounges and fashion boutiques, DAG felt the need for a new location in keeping with its mandate of accessibility as well as the right environment in which to view art. The gallery, therefore, re-located to The Claridges in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi where its exhibitions proved a grand success.
To serve the ambitious nature of DAG’s growth, the need for larger galleries was soon felt. The new galleries are located on Janpath adjacent to Windsor Place within walking distance of hotels and the city’s shopping districts. With two galleries, it can host two simultaneous exhibitions or a single larger one. A rooftop terrace is ideal for events, conversations and other activities DAG may want to host from time to time.
Digital Museum Initiatives
DAG takes a significant step towards its vision of making art accessible for all, allocating over 180 artworks and archival artefacts from the collection to its Museums Programme. With the launch of the new website, these works are now on view online.
The works on view as a part of the digital museum are drawn primarily from DAG’s historic collection of Bengal art, ranging across the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. It provides a unique resource for art lovers to explore the evolution of art in the region, at a time when Calcutta became a hub for global exchanges as the capital of the British Empire. Starting with experiments with academic art in the early days of the colony, the collection traverses the artistic developments of the Swadeshi period and the tumultuous years before and after Independence. In addition, there are a range of photographs and objects from DAG’s archives, presented as capsule collections that delve into specific micro-histories, and open up new areas of research.
Accompanied with illustrated stories, timelines and videos this growing online collection brings the museum experience into our homes and is envisioned as an enduring resource that can be savoured over time for learning, analysis and simply for the love of art!
The Art Lab is a travelling, popup museum that takes art into schools, making DAG’s extensive collection directly accessible to young people. Over two weeks, students immerse themselves in the exhibition and take over as artists, researchers, and curators to create their own museum. The exhibition is modular by design, and by the end of the process it takes a completely different shape and form as students intervene with their ideas and creative expressions.
Art Lab also engages with the wider community, with students across different classes, parents, local officials, and partner schools who visit the exhibition on Open House days when the classroom is teeming with the energy and engagement of a busy day at the museum. As a part of Art Lab, DAG also offers a workshop for teachers where they explore simple tools for integrating art in their lessons, and build shared knowledge about art based pedagogies.
Started in Kolkata in April 2022, Art Lab has now travelled to six schools, adding a Bengali module for first generation learners so that the programme can be accessed widely, across socio-economic barriers, as the museum travels across the country.
Four latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans.
We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes and feature Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee.
Journal: Edition 5
For our latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans. We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes.
For our 'Artists as Collectors' series we explored the collection of the Kolkata-based artist and illustrator Hiran Mitra, which featured works by Partha Pratim Deb and Gopal Ghose, among others; and we highlight journeys undertaken by Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee. And don't forget to read our term of the month: En plein air.
DAG ACQUIRES THE 75-YEAR-OLD JAMINI ROY HOUSE IN KOLKATA TO OPEN INDIA’S FIRST PRIVATE SINGLE-ARTIST MUSEUM
In 1949, Jamini Roy moved from his modest Baghbazar home in north Calcutta to the genteel neighbourhood of Ballygunge Place, at the time an open area with bungalows in a neighbourhood occupied by professionals. Here, as his practice grew, so did his family, and the artist added rooms and floors to the home in which he lived till his passing away in 1972. Four years later, the Government of India declared him a National Treasure artist. In March 2023, the historic home of India’s most loved modernist was acquired by India’s most respected art company, DAG, for the express purpose of creating India’s first world-class private single-artist museum and cultural resource centre on the life, work and times of this pioneering artist.
India has a lacuna of professionally run private art museums and there are no professionally run single-artist museums in the country, a gap that DAG hopes to fill with the restoration of the 75-year-old historical house with the help of conservation architects and designers. The Jamini Roy House Museum is envisioned as a tribute to the artist, and the values of simplicity, creativity and universalism that he espoused.
DAG’s new address in New Delhi
DAG was established in New Delhi in 1993 and the capital has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the country’s largest and most respected art institution. It began in 1993 at Hauz Khas Village, which was then a sleepy outpost in the city with a historic character. But once the village became a trendy address for bars, lounges and fashion boutiques, DAG felt the need for a new location in keeping with its mandate of accessibility as well as the right environment in which to view art. The gallery, therefore, re-located to The Claridges in the heart of Lutyens’s Delhi where its exhibitions proved a grand success.
To serve the ambitious nature of DAG’s growth, the need for larger galleries was soon felt. The new galleries are located on Janpath adjacent to Windsor Place within walking distance of hotels and the city’s shopping districts. With two galleries, it can host two simultaneous exhibitions or a single larger one. A rooftop terrace is ideal for events, conversations and other activities DAG may want to host from time to time.
Digital Museum Initiatives
DAG takes a significant step towards its vision of making art accessible for all, allocating over 180 artworks and archival artefacts from the collection to its Museums Programme. With the launch of the new website, these works are now on view online.
The works on view as a part of the digital museum are drawn primarily from DAG’s historic collection of Bengal art, ranging across the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. It provides a unique resource for art lovers to explore the evolution of art in the region, at a time when Calcutta became a hub for global exchanges as the capital of the British Empire. Starting with experiments with academic art in the early days of the colony, the collection traverses the artistic developments of the Swadeshi period and the tumultuous years before and after Independence. In addition, there are a range of photographs and objects from DAG’s archives, presented as capsule collections that delve into specific micro-histories, and open up new areas of research.
Accompanied with illustrated stories, timelines and videos this growing online collection brings the museum experience into our homes and is envisioned as an enduring resource that can be savoured over time for learning, analysis and simply for the love of art!
The Art Lab is a travelling, popup museum that takes art into schools, making DAG’s extensive collection directly accessible to young people. Over two weeks, students immerse themselves in the exhibition and take over as artists, researchers, and curators to create their own museum. The exhibition is modular by design, and by the end of the process it takes a completely different shape and form as students intervene with their ideas and creative expressions.
Art Lab also engages with the wider community, with students across different classes, parents, local officials, and partner schools who visit the exhibition on Open House days when the classroom is teeming with the energy and engagement of a busy day at the museum. As a part of Art Lab, DAG also offers a workshop for teachers where they explore simple tools for integrating art in their lessons, and build shared knowledge about art based pedagogies.
Started in Kolkata in April 2022, Art Lab has now travelled to six schools, adding a Bengali module for first generation learners so that the programme can be accessed widely, across socio-economic barriers, as the museum travels across the country.
Four latest issue of the Journal we focused on a thematic of travel and mountains. Both have provided ample opportunities and sites of experimentation for Indian artists to push their skills in representing views that are not easily seen by most. We travelled to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York too, to give you a glimpse of this peripatetic artist and writer's contribution to American life and art, as he made fragments of the Himalayan world and its diverse cultures available to Americans.
We also spoke to Carol Huh about an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art that focuses on Indian contemporary photographers who study landscapes and feature Indian artists who sketched their way to the hills, including M. V. Dhurandhar and Benode Behari Mukherjee.