On the occasion of Rabindranath Tagore’s 83rd death anniversary on 7 August this year, the Rabindra Galleries of the Academy of Fine Arts were reopened after an interlude of nine and a half years. The inaugural ceremony, “Phire Pawa”, was attended by several distinguished figures from the fields of art, history and heritage. It was organised by Techno India Group and its students.
The Rabindra Galleries comprise invaluable exhibits like several original paintings by Tagore, his personal belongings, diaries, letters, booklets, as well as portraits of Tagore painted by other artists. Paintings of contemporary artists are also exhibited in the adjacent Gallery of Contemporary Art. The chief guest for the event was eminent painter Jogen Chowdhury.
Rabindranath Tagore’s paintings like “Under the Shadow of Antiquity”, “Proximity”, “The Twin”, “Destitutes” are among the several paintings that adorn the walls of the Rabindra Galleries. Tagore’s platonic relationship with his last muse and founder of the Academy of Fine Arts, Lady Ranu Mukherjee (born as Priti Adhikary), poetically inspired the poet as he was navigating through one of the most difficult times of his life when he was grieving the death of his daughter Madhurilata. Ranu Mukherjee affectionately called Tagore “Bhanudada” (which was after Tagore’s pseudonym Bhanusingha, which he had adopted to write ‘Bhanusingha Thakurer Padabali’). Several letters written to ‘Ranu’ by ‘Bhanudada’ have been preserved and exhibited in these galleries. Among the booklets and manuscripts, the notable observations are two books, ‘The Post Office’ and ‘Hungry Stones and Other Stories’, which Tagore had gifted to Sir Biren Mukherjee, Ranu Mukherjee’s husband.
When asked about her experience curating the Rabindra Galleries for its re-opening, Baishali Ghosh, curator at the Academy of Fine Arts, told The Statesman, “It is marvellous that I got the opportunity to curate this. The gallery has remained closed since 2015. There has been such a long gap. Keeping the project behind the scenes is not at all easy for a curator. We were unable to open this space due to lack of funds, but now, because of donations, we have finally been able to showcase the space and the collection to the general public.”
Several belongings of Rabindranath Tagore are also housed in the exhibition, such as a tablecloth, cap, Ming China inkpot, which Tagore had used when in China, and many more such artifacts. The most striking exhibit is an ornate box containing locks of Tagore’s beard, which he had gifted to Ranu Mukherjee on her wedding.
The Gallery of Contemporary Art consists of paintings by contemporary eminent painters like Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Ray, Asit Kumar Haldar, Kshitin Mazumdar, Benode Behari Mukherjee, Ram Kinkar Baij, Gopal Ghosh, Nirode Mazumdar and Satyajit Ray, among others.
The role of art in education should never be underestimated or undermined. Art is emblematic of the society that one lives in and is a part of. Besides its aesthetic appeal, art often brings forth harsh truths of the living world as well. At a time when the world is fast-paced and driven by science and technology, the importance of art has increased all the more, for art has the ability to be calm in the hustle, chaos and commotion of everyday life.
Manoshi Roychowdhury, co-chairperson of Techno India Group, said, “I have invited my art students as well to this gallery. They know about western artists like Michelangelo, among many others, but most of them do not know that Satyajit Ray had created a painting of Rabindranath Tagore (which has been exhibited as well). Art has a mass appeal. We can educate people by the strokes of the paintbrush and colours and to let this generation know what the previous generation has in store for us.”
With a diverse array of works, ranging from “Sahaj Path” to “Jibansmriti”, Tagore occupies an important space in the lives of people of Bengal from every age group, across generations. Talking to The Statesman, distinguished historian Tapati Guha-Thakurta said, “This gallery was a part of my growing years. Not just this particular space, but rather Tagore himself. It was a different time when so many art galleries did not exist, except for the Academy of Fine Arts and Birla Academy of Art and Culture. Later, when I began teaching art, I used to bring students to this gallery.”
Emphasising the importance of the Rabindra Galleries, Guha-Thakurta said, “The Rabindranath Gallery is particularly important because it is the founding gallery. So it is with this gallery that the Academy of Fine Arts in this location came into being. I feel this is the most prestigious collection because Lady Ranu Mukherjee was very close to him. I think a lot of these artefacts were gifted to Mukherjee by him, which she had kept carefully. And because of the long hiatus, another generation does not know of its existence.”
Speaking about the maintenance aspect of the gallery, Guha-Thakurta commented, “I think the important thing now is to have public opinion on air conditioning. That is important because without it, the condition of the paintings will not stay the same. This is a national treasure.”