People - Sarmaya

Spotlight

Collector’s Edition: Paul Abraham on ‘People of India’

Paul Abraham introduces us to a rare 19th-century album of ethnographic photographs, a gem from the Sarmaya collection

Spotlight

People of India

“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.” As the chief photographer for Vogue and Vanity Fair in the early 1900s, Edward Steichen knew what he was talking about. Portraiture is the result of a dynamic collaboration between photographer and model, both of whom colour the final frame with… Read more »

Spotlight

Goddess of the People – Ma Durga comes to Kolkata

Let’s trace the tremendous journey of Goddess Durga as she emerged from the mists of time and sprung into the limelight to capture the imagination of Calcutta, Bengal and the rest of the country

Talks

Chettiars: The History of A People by MV Subbiah

During our visit to Chettinad for Sarmaya’s Art of Travel, eminent industrialist and the former Executive Chairman, Murugappa Group, MV Subbiah treated us to a very personalised history of his community, the Nagarathar or Nattukkottai Chettiars. He was in conversation with Sarmaya founder, Paul Abraham.

Spotlight

Of the people

The many faces of one god

Spotlight

Gopa Trivedi’s Gulistan

Drawing from Persian poetry, Mughal gardens, and colonial botanical studies, Gopa Trivedi’s painting series ‘Gulistan’ explores urgently contemporary themes like othering and pluralism

Workshops

Tamil Nadu to Dharavi: a Pongal Special walk

On the 14th of January, 2025, as part of the outreach for Sarmaya’s exhibition High Seas, Open Roads Sarmaya’s Research & Curatorial Assistant Pooja Ashokkumar led a walk in Dharavi on the occasion of Pongal. The walk started bright and early for the group of twelve, by watching the Pongal (the traditional Tamil sweet dish) being… Read more »

Spotlight

The Emperor & The Hawk

Cleverly hidden in the design of a silver coin is the story of Mughal emperor Jahangir’s lifelong fascination with birds of prey

Spotlight

Under The Skin – Dharavi’s Lost Leather Artisans

A third-generation ‘Bombay-Tamil’ narrates a personal history of Dharavi’s leather industry and its vanished ‘tholwadis’

Spotlight

How to read history that hasn’t been written yet

Inspired by a 150-year-old sepia photograph, a museum professional explores how to fill in the blanks of history through an anti-caste perspective

Spotlight

Who paints Pichwais & other mysteries

Let’s start with the fact that the word ‘Pichwai’ itself is a misnomer

Guides

Mata-ni-Pachedi: History of Gujarat’s moving shrines

From devotional offering to art, Mata-ni-Pachedi has continued to take new forms. We outline a brief history of this textile tradition and a community that has practiced and perfected it over centuries.

Partnerships

The Hindu

We’re thrilled to start 2024 with the launch of Living Archive, a series of articles produced by Sarmaya for The Hindu. Starting Jan 2024, this monthly series will be published in the Sunday Magazine of the national newspaper. Each article will explore an idea embedded in Sarmaya’s collection of art and artefacts from the Indian… Read more »