Mumbai's CSMVS rotunda displays diverse 'Ancient Sculptures' collection for ambitious exhibition

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya CSMVS at Fort has pulled off a coup of sorts The museumrsquos rotunda is the breathtaking venue for a project called lsquoAncient Sculptures India Egypt Assyria Greece Romersquo Art pieces from five cultures have been brought together and will be on display at the venue till October 1 2024The project opens today Saturday December 2 and will go for 10 monthsThe debutAncient Sculptures is the first presentation under the museumrsquos lsquoAncient World Projectrsquo umbrella which aims to bring great works of art from other cultures to Mumbai This initiative brings together 20 art works and expertise from the CSMVS The J Paul Getty Museum The British Museum and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin along with some museums from within IndiaDr Sabyasachi Mukherjee with one of the ancient sculptures on display at the CSMVS PicSameer MarkandeAt homeOverseas expertspartners are in the city as the exhibition takes off Some are slated to speak about the exhibition later in the week Said Neil MacGregor art historian scholar and advisor to the CSMVS ldquoNot everybody can visit other countries to engage with these historic objects of art for a deeper understanding of a shared ancient past For citizens this is a fantastic opportunity to do so right here in their metropolisrdquoThe project is part of Gettyrsquos lsquoSharing Collectionsrsquo effort one that aims to promote a global understanding of the ancient world Dr Joan Weinstein Getty Foundation director said there were pieces from the Getty Museum for this 10month window to the ancient world ldquoThis is sheer magicrdquo added Dr Weinstein Talking about the significant exhibition duration she said ldquoBesides bringing the pieces to India we needed time to see how the masterpieces ldquointeracted with the climate here in this city when they were brought inrdquoIt exploresThis exhibition museum spokespersons stated explores three themes the role of nature in our lives the divine form and ideas and paradigms of beauty It also wants to address questions like Were there any connections between India and the ancient Mediterranean Why were most Greek sculptures depicted in the nude Why did the Greeks and Romans give so much importance to a trained and perfect body Was Egyptian philosophy only about death and the afterlifeThe durationDr Sabyasachi Mukherjee Director General CSMVS smiled as he looked on at the preparations on late Friday November 30 evening He said ldquoThe presentation and content is exceptional We have had exhibitionsprojects of three to six months earlier this will be the longest time Interest and attendance will sustain for all these months no question about that The CSMVS museum gets over a million visitors every yearrdquo Mukherjee who said the exhibition will be part of the overall museum ticket price and there is no extra charge for it added ldquoThese sculptures are strangers to the citizens right now These will I am sure spark conversations with visitors build a lot of curiosityrdquoLike the adage goes Rome was not built in a day And we may add Roman culture sculpture was not brought to Mumbai in a day too ldquoIt took four years from conception to implementationrdquo Mukherjee explained and added ldquoThe COVID shuttering and slowdown all over gave us more time to talk to each other about the processes to bring this togetherrdquo Looking at the rotunda from the museumrsquos conference room above Mukherjee said reflectively ldquoThe past helps us understand human history and different ages right till the current digital age It reminds us of the contribution of the ancient world in todayrsquos knowledge systemrdquo The director stressed ldquoWe believe in collaboration Knowing about other cultures is so important It helps shatter that my culture is better than yours mindset there is a realisation that all cultures are great in their own wayrdquoShare showProf Dr Andreas Scholl is the director The Antikensammlung Staatliche Museen zu Berlin He said ldquoAs a first presentation the monuments are significantly large and so is the space Unlike paintings these are threedimensional pieces people can walk around them it is a very interactive experiencerdquo Scholl added ldquoInitiatives like these illustrate how cultures were linked no culture existed in isolationrdquo He summed up memorably like the final flourish on a signature ldquoIt is not about one country owning the piece but about sharing it with the worldrdquolsquoAncient Sculptures India Egypt Assyria Greece Romersquo is on from December 2 2023 to October 1 2024 For more information httpscsmvsinancientsculptures