DAG's 'The City as a Museum' festival explores Delhi's art, heritage histories

New Delhi, Sep 6 (PTI) An informative walk through the 18th-century Qudsia Bagh, the site of the historic Indian Art Exhibition held during the 1903 Delhi Durbar, led by historian Swapna Liddle, marked the opening of ‘The City as a Museum’ art and heritage festival on Saturday.

Organised by DAG, an annual feature in Kolkata since 2021 and starting in Mumbai this year, the multi-art festival has marked its debut in the national capital with an integrated series of exhibitions, walks, talks, performances, and discussions across various sites in the city The festival journeys across the city - from iconic institutions, historic sites, personal archives to artists' communities and spaces for performance and art activism, exploring the connected histories of modern art, the emergent nation and the ever-evolving capital city.

The festival, which will run till September 21, aims to reimagine the city as a cultural map, “weaving together interconnected sites and layered histories, viewed through diverse perspectives”.

“This exhibition brings together an unprecedented variety of objects—paintings, prints, photographs, maps and plans, that depict the historic sites of Delhi. It also departs from the conventional narrative of the rise and fall of capital cities, instead focusing on the layers of history that make up the various sites – Mehrauli, Shahjahanabad, Nizamuddin, New Delhi and others.

"It invites the viewer to see the history of the city as an integral part of the lived experience of those who inhabit it,” curator Swapna Liddle said in a statement.

At the heart of its inaugural edition in the city lies “Sair-e-Delhi: Chronicles of Change”, an exhibition curated by Liddle, running from September 7-15 at Bikaner House.

Featuring a collection of paintings, prints, photographs, maps and plans, it explores the built forms and structures of the city—from the Sultanate and Mughal periods to Lutyens’ Delhi—through the eyes of travellers and connoisseurs, offering the viewers a glimpse into how artists framed the city in the modern era.

“A city is a living legacy of its history and culture in which art plays an important part alongside other streams and components, some of which are more visibly acknowledged than others. With The City as a Museum, we open doors and windows to parallels and conversations that are immersive, educational and investigative but also engaging and fun,” Ashish Anand, CEO and MD of DAG, said.

A set of programmes titled ‘The Fifth Circle’, curated by Amitesh Grover, will explore important cultural institutions at the heart of the capital around the Mandi House circle, such as the Lalit Kala Akademi and the Sangeet Natak Akademi through an audio walk, a performance, and a panel discussion.

The events focus on the artworks, lives and social milieus of iconic artists such as Satish Gujral, Krishen Khanna, Tyeb Mehta—all of whose centenary is being celebrated this year— along with Devayani Krishna, Kanwal Krishna, Madhvi Parekh, and B C Sanyal, G R Santosh, A Ramachandran, Gogi Saroj Pal, Shobha Broota, as well as lesser-known figures of modern Indian art, exploring the city through their experiences.

The festival will feature pop-up exhibitions and performances, walks, audio trails, and discussions in collaboration with leading historians, scholars, collectors, archivists, and artists, including Liddle, Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Naman Ahuja, Giles Tillotson, Kanupriya Dhingra, Sohail Hashmi, Sudhanva Deshpande, Moloyashree Hashmi, Amitesh Grover, Madan Gopal Singh, Ram Rahman, Zuleikha Chaudhari, Sarovar Zaidi, Shukla Sawant, Priya Paul, Yousuf Saeed, Manju Sharma, Aban Raza, and Sabeena Gadihoke.

A walk along the iconic Daryaganj Sunday Book market on Sunday with Kanupriya Dhingra and Sohail Hashmi, will recount its cultural landmarks and eventual move to a new location, ending with a discussion at the Kathika Cultural Centre on the historical significance of the locality.

On September 9, historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee will revisit Delhi in the aftermath of 1857 through photographs that bear witness to a changing city, against the backdrop of the exhibition “Sair-e-Dilli: Chronicles of Change”.

Studio Safdar, with founders Sudhanva Deshpande Moloyashree Hashmi, will present a preview of the Shadipur Natak Utsav on September 10 with a pop-exhibition, discussion and street play, exploring the central role of children in community theatre and their enduring influence on modern art.

An immersive audio walk on September 12-13 by Amitesh Grover, “The Fifth Circle: Echo Route”, will take the audience through Mandi House, where history, institutions, and countercultures collide in sound.

Music band Chaar Yaar will blend folk, rock, qawwali, and songs of resistance on September 12 at “The Fifth Circle: In Music, In Solidarity”.

On September 13, Ram Rahman, Zuleikha Chaudhari, Sarovar Zaidi and Shukla Sawant, with Amitesh Grover will probe how Mandi House’s institutions and architecture have shaped aesthetics, identity, and collective memory in “The Fifth Circle: Institution, Memory, Resistance”.

Amba Sanyal, Mridula Vichitra, Rakesh Zharotia and Shabir Santosh, in conversation with Kiran Mohan, will take part in a discussion on September 14 on the history and afterlives of Delhi’s post-independence artists’ colonies at Garhi Village, Bharati Artists’ Colony, Nizamuddin and Kaladham Noida with artists and their families. PTI MAH RB RB