Sarmaya has collaborated with celebrated Rajasthani artist Manish Soni to reimagine Christ in a new light and through an Eastern lens. With support and direction from Sarmaya founder Paul Abraham, Soni has revived the ancient Mughal art of Hamzanama painting and used the form brilliantly to retell the legendary tales we know so well.
Read more ...Portrait of a Nation, A Nation in Portraits
Click here to take a virtual tour of our first exhibition Portraits are everywhere. We think we know what they are for and what they do—they depict what people look like and they capture or distil their particular identity. But with our first-ever exhibition, ‘Portrait of a Nation, A Nation in Portraits: 19th century Photography… Read more »
Online Photography Contest
‘Capturing your cityscape’ allowed photographers across India a chance to reimagine a historical image through a contemporary lens. We were thrilled to see how monuments as varied as the Asafi Masjid in Lucknow and the Shore Temple in Mahabalipuram were interpreted today.
The Lucknow Affair
When we launched our Art of Travel series this month, we just knew we had to begin with Lucknow. For all the obvious reasons, of course. It’s a city soaked in art and history, and lends itself so beautifully to all manner of poetic interpretation. Plus, the kebabs are heavenly. But there was another reason… Read more »
Read more ...Heritage Walks
Our exhibition was hosted at a gallery located in one of the city’s most charming historical districts. To explore this neighbourhood and situate the show in a more local context, we teamed up with professional heritage-walkers and Bombay-lovers, Simin Patel of Bombaywalla, conservation architect Kruti Garg and Alisha Sadikot and Nishita Zachariah.
Watch: The Lucknow Affair
Sarmaya in Lucknow
Talks and Panels
We partnered with Avid Learning to debate the true meaning of archives today; got veteran collectors and antiquarians Paul Abraham, Aditya Arya and Roland Belgrave to share stories of the chase with us; and organized a very special panel for children with our young photographers from Dharavi.
Photography workshops
Professor Arpan Mukherjee of Santiniketan and Madhavan Pillai, the curator of our show, held workshops in vintage techniques like albumen prints, cyanotypes and painted photographs.
Portrait of a Nation, A Nation in Portraits: A Sarmaya exhibition
Just like us, people in the 1800s too wanted to look their best in pictures. They put on their finest clothes, made sure all their nicest possessions were all in the frame and angled the lens so it would tell their side of the story. Through a sampling of the works in Sarmaya’s first ever… Read more »
Read more ...Gallery Walkthroughs
Founder of Sarmaya Paul Abraham and curator Madhavan Pillai took smaller groups on tours of the exhibition at Pundole’s, Mumbai that threw light on the different themes of the collection. It was a great way to get intimately acquainted with the landscape of a different time.
Notes from Awadh
Art of Travel: Lucknow itinerary
Dharavi Art Room
Complete list of Sarmaya@School programs
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