They say a curator is a steward of visual culture, meticulously selecting, contextualising and presenting artworks to construct dialogues across periods, movements and mediums, ensuring cohesion and contiguity while fostering new critical interpretations. I had the privilege of speaking to one such Delhi-based expert of the arts. Monica Jain is the founder and director of Art Centrix Space in the capital. While she has been running a contemporary art gallery, she aims that while we, as contemporary Indians, live modern lifestyles in modern homes, we still retain the pleasure of the old.
Meet Monica Jain, The Delhi-Based Curator Bridging Tradition & Contemporary Art
Curator Monica Jain speaks about an ongoing exhibition in New Delhi titled "Ishq Chaman," the evolution of Indian miniature art, and the dialogue between tradition and contemporary expression
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I occasioned an interaction with the curator at the exhibition "Ishq Chaman" at Bikaner House, Delhi. The exhibition "Ishq Chaman," or The Garden of Love, was curated as a tribute to the artistic legacy of Kishangarh on which Jain worked alongside Princess Vaishnavi Kumari, art curator and founder of Studio Kishangarh. Our conversation steered the curves and crevices of art and curation, little more than the gist of which is reproduced here.
Curation involves a dialogue between the past and present. How did you work with Princess Vaishnavi Kumari to create this narrative? How did you work around striking a balance between the traditional art form and contemporary art spaces?
By virtue of the fact that I run a contemporary art gallery and Art Centrix Heritage, it was important for me to see how to take this forward. Collaborating with Princess Vaishnavi Kumari has been an absolute privilege and a joy because we both think alike and have our own strengths. Moreover, she set up the studio (Studio Kishangarh) in 2010. It has been 15 years since she started working to ensure that the artists from this atelier continue the legacy of hundreds of years of traditional miniature painting so that it is appreciated by people today, as we do.
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I think running a contemporary art gallery gives me an edge—the vision and the ability to conceptualise how traditional art can take on contemporary forms. This collaboration holds a lot of meaning, and I believe that in the future, we will see this art evolve in a significant way.
Curation is often about framing context—what, for you, is the core idea this exhibition challenges or upholds about Indian art history?
There are different aspects to art history. One is the thought process; another is the number of people who worked behind the scenes, as we see in Indian heritage through architecture, paintings, and sculpture.
Having trained in the arts—studying under Rubina Kharode and at the National Museum and College of Art—I realise that there are many aspects to heritage and contemporary art. One of them, for instance, is how a traditional artist would think in a modern artist's way. They belong to an atelier, a group of artists where each member works on a single painting together. In contrast, a contemporary artist has a name, a signature; a single artist conceptualises and paints everything on their own.
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How do you see traditional artists overcoming challenges to integrate contemporary thought into their work?
The first way to overcome obstacles is to show how these artists can collaborate and think in a manner that integrates contemporary thought without old-fashioned borders and constraints. They have access—the family collection includes old works preserved in their palace collections in the fort, and many are housed in museums such as the Boston Museum. The artists can see these works, and I can see them. By virtue of that, we are able to curate and create this new collection. It is an evolving collection, and I believe that over the next five years, we will witness a dramatic shift in how they think and paint.
In his paper "Multiple Authorships, " Boris Groys talks about the absence of an author figure in art. How do you interpret the concept of artistic authorship in the Indian context?
I think the idea of authorship in art is a very Western and modern concept. It has always been present in European art—we know of artists from the 15th and 16th centuries, the Italian Renaissance, and so on. But in India, who knows? We know Nehal Chand from the Kishangarh School of Art, but there are so many more we do not know, right?
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Art has always been a collective effort; even the Taj Mahal was created by numerous artists. While Shah Jahan was the main patron, architects and artisans played significant roles. The challenge in the modern context is ensuring that we continue to uphold the ideal of an atelier—where artisans and artists work together—rather than focusing solely on individual signatures, while still producing cutting-edge works that are both modern and rooted in traditional forms.
How does "Ishq Chaman" address the idea of collective artistic authorship while engaging with contemporary audiences?
This exhibition, "Ishq Chaman," has successfully addressed this challenge. Additionally, the storyline itself originates from Princess Vaishnavi Kumari’s ancestor, Raja Sawant Singh. The verses in the exhibition are drawn from his poetry, and the artists were asked to create works based on it.
A great deal of thought and effort has gone into this. As for the spectator, I prefer to call them an art lover or a collector—someone who values and appreciates art. Naturally, we are targeting them, but we are also thinking about future generations—people who will continue to engage with these works. We tend to view heritage as something that belongs to the past, but that is not the case. It was evolving back then, just as it continues to evolve now. What was happening in the 11th century was different from the 15th, 16th, and 18th centuries. History is constantly evolving, and this evolution must continue.
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Therefore, Art Centrix Heritage and Studio Kishangarh, under the patronage of Princess Vaishnavi Kumari, have come together to ensure that we build a lasting legacy for future generations—one that serves as a repository for traditional Indian art in a modern form.
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