A ground-breaking new exhibition in the capital traces Kali’s earliest representations in painting as described in the 5th Century Puranic text, the Devi Mahatmyam, through to 20th-century works of artists like Satish Gujral, G. R. Santosh, Rabin Mondal, Nirode Mazumdar and K. Laxma Goud, among others. Depicting the goddess in her multiple avatars and across regions, the exhibition curated by Gayatri Sinha, investigates her representation in art from mythological as well as modern perspectives.
One Goddess, Many Forms
The show strives for a pan-Indian showcase of the goddess – from miniature style works from the western regions of the country to 19th Century Bengal painting, popular prints from west Indian states to southern sculptures and performance costumes worn by marginalised groups and many more, presented alongside works of familiar master modernists like Gogi Saroj Pal and Madhvi Parekh.
Divided into distinct and broad thematic categories, the exhibition depicts Kali and her cohort in the opening section. It highlights Kali’s antecedents as well as her location within the larger assemblage of the divine feminine. Subsequent sections emphasise Kali’s depictions in popular culture from different parts of the Indian subcontinent. The works themselves vary from sculptures from Kerala to north Indian miniature paintings to Bengal paintings in oil and popular prints. The last section is devoted to Kali in modern art.
The showcase presents Kali across formats of painting (oils on canvas, watercolours and other media on paper as well as reverse painting on glass), sculpture (terracotta, glazed porcelain, ceramic, wood and bronze) and print (woodblock, lithographs, chromolithographs and oleographs). “The materials used in her depiction – printing in the popular presses, oil painting, wood and metal point to the different strata of society that she counts among her devotees. What is notable is Kali’s easy facility in moving between causes small and large and the ready acceptance that she finds as a revolutionary mascot and a mother goddess figure,” elaborates Sinha.
In the making for over a year, the exhibition and its accompanying publication showcase not only the different aspects of her mythology from across India but also how different groups — devotees, academicians, nationalists, tribal communities, marginalised and social collectives — have perceived and co-opted her iconography. Its narrative spans multiple centuries, from the end of the 18th Century and concluding with the work of modern artists in the 2000s.
Kali’s Mass Appeal
The Goddess Kali’s appeal spread well beyond India’s geopolitical barriers, which is seen in 19th-century Cantonese-origin reverse-glass paintings, 20th-century ceramic sculptures from Germany, art prints produced in Italy and Switzerland, and a matchbox advertisement aimed at a Japanese audience. While Indian artists celebrated her, Europeans during the early years of British settlement were puzzled by her iconography and customs of worship — as seen in the interpretations by ‘Doctor of Divinity’ William Hurd (1780), Flemish ethnographer Francois Balthazard Solvyns (1808) and Russian traveller-artist Prince Alexys Soltykoff (1841). “Even as the British branded her as the leader of thugs, she has been exalted by poets, and attracted the attention of a number of modern artists. In each of these aspects, she is invoked for her immanence and adaptability, marking a throwback to a vivid, imaginary past,” says Sinha.
Along with European portrayals from the early-colonial era, the exhibition includes works by unidentified Indian artists belonging to diverse miniature traditions. Alongside, the exhibition also features 19th-Century Bengal pat and oil paintings, popular prints from across India as well as ceramic figurines and glass paintings. It also examines how 20th-Century modernists conceptualised the iconography of the deity. “Increasingly, we have strived to complement art with objects of archival relevance — for instance photographs, curios and wearable accessories — resulting in holistic exhibitions such as this one. Kali, like other recent projects, is a proactive step in this direction,” adds Ashish Anand, CEO and MD, Delhi Art Gallery.
What is notable is Kali’s easy facility in moving between causes small and large and the ready acceptance that she finds as a revolutionary mascot and a mother goddess figure.” — Gayatri Sinha, art critic and curator.
We have strived to complement art with objects of archival relevance — for instance photographs, curios and wearable accessories — resulting in holistic exhibitions such as this one.” — Ashish Anand, CEO & MD of DAG
