A South Asian eyeful
Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002), Man and Woman Grinding Their Teeth, 1957. The Meeting Ground: Scenes from the KNMA Collection at Christie’s London.
Daniel Nelson
For a South Asian treat and an eyeful of images go now to Christie’s, which is showing a wonderful, eclectic selection of painting, sculpture, video, photography and installation from the region.
It’s a treasure trove of surprises, and it’s free. But it runs only until 21 August.
The 180 works by 67 artists are from the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), currently expanding in Delhi to become “India’s largest multidisciplinary cultural space at more than one million square feet”, and which aims to be the world’s greatest South Asian art institution.
There’s no single theme or chronology so you have the luxury of wandering through the rooms and stopping whenever something catches your eye: a mesmerising larger-than-life video of plumes of dust rising as two men thud bamboo poles into a 200-year-old rug; an arresting red acrylic (“after Tintoretto” and a studio fire); a haunting ring of scarecrow-like ash-covered kurtas; a huge bookcase that is more than its seems; an exquisite intricate video of the cycle of village lives; a painting of a tortured man and woman grinding their teeth. And if the marble-inscribed extracts of censor-seized letters home from Indian soldiers in World War One don’t bring tears to your eyes, you are probably beyond redemption.
The big names of Indian art are here (including M. F. Husain, forced into exile in England and Dubai after threats by Hindu extremists), and scarcely-knowns, many art “isms” and artists young and old, dead and alive, from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka as well as India. Some works have never previously been shown outside India; several artists lived and worked in UK.
Damian Vesey, Christie’s International Specialist for South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art, describes the show as amazing, though points out that this is not the first South Asian exhibition in London in recent years: “There have been shows at the Barbican, the Royal Academy, and when you go to Tate Modern you see pieces that are South Asian, which is brilliant.
“But I hope it reaches many people and boosts awareness, which is the primary ambition of the show.”
Kiran Nadar, chair of the KNMA agrees. in a short Christie’s video publicising the exhibition she says, “India has such a rich heritage of art. We have a lot to offer but it hasn’t been given the importance it deserves.
*South Asian art needs more noticeability and credibility across the world and KNMA is going to be a major source of showing what our side of the world can offer.”
The Meeting Ground: Scenes from the KNMA Collection, free, Christie’s, 8 King Street SW1Y 6QT, until 21 August2026. Info: Christie’s
+ Exhibition tours, 3 - 4pm: 12,18, 29 July, 12, 20 August