MUMBAI: The city's neighbouring premier art hubs
Jehangir Art Gallery and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly Prince of Wales
Museum) reopened partially after an eleven-month long Covid-19
lockdown Tuesday.
CSMVS's galleries will resume in a phased manner starting with Tuesday's opening of the Natural History Galleries, the Karl Khandalavala Gallery of Indian Artefacts, the Money and Jewellery galleries and the Children's museum. The beautiful manicured lawns will be made available for families to relax and rejuvenate. The authorities have reduced ticket rates as well.
The seven exhibition halls inside Jehangir Art Gallery will also open in phases through April with proper safety protocol and social distancing.
The prolonged lockdown has plunged the gallery into a tough financial situation. Jehangir's longtime secretary Karthiayani Menon has weathered many storms during her remarkable 50 years of service at the gallery. This is another trough to overcome.
She said, "All exhibitions which were booked from March 2020 have been rescheduled to 2021. As a result the gallery will not earn a penny as revenue this year. We have been forced to reduce staff salaries but we have not laid off any of our employees. They resumed work in October."
Two inaugural solo exhibitions were inaugurated at Jehangir Tuesday, one featuring Antra Srivastava from Ranchi, the other Delhi-based Bibhuti Adhikary. Srivastava said she felt privileged to open the show at Jehangir after a long hiatus on the auspicious day of Saraswati Puja.
"There are two series on display, first is Indian mythology and scriptures which includes the depiction of Ramayan in 16 miniature paintings. The second series is 'Dimensions' done in surreal style. Maximum works were done during the lockdown period," she said.
The highlight of Adhikary's display is an interesting 5 ft x 4 ft installation made up of 594 PVC pipes. The pipes are rolled to display 12 compositions on wildlife conservation. One specific painting named 'Lockdown Baba' features masks and Covid paraphernalia.
This award winning artist has been the art director of the Republic Day tableaux for Delhi and Haryana. He said, "I had booked Gallery no. 2 but the managers graciously allowed me the additional use of Gallery no. 3 as I had more artworks."