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Largest reshuffle at V&A's South Asian art gallery

London's Victoria & Albert Museum recently went on to rehang its South Asia gallery, replacing 140 exhibits on display that were found to be light sensitive or slightly weathered, reports Ornella D'Souza

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Hunhar opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 1765
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In the latter half of July till the first week of August, the curators of the Victoria & Albert's South Asia gallery were gushing over Twitter about its rotating its exhibits. They posted images of few artefacts taken off display and their replacements – the most charming being a patch of cloth embroidered with a polo match in full swing among a thicket of flowers.

“The rehang takes place every few years, but this time we were able to be a little more ambitious with the textiles, thus making it the largest rehang that has taken place since 1990, when the gallery opened,” says Divia Patel, Senior Curator, South Asia gallery, V&A London.


A child's angarkha (robe) in red silk woven with silver and gold flowers in metal-wrapped thread, lined with cotton and trimmed with silk, made in north India and dated to the mid-19th century

This was not a compete refurbishment of the gallery. Only 140 paintings and textiles were replaced out of the 600 existing objects. So the light-insensitive ones stayed. “Our selection criteria included the relevance of the object in the context of the gallery themes, the quality, condition as well as the level of exposure (to light) it has previously had,” informs Patel.


A peshwaz (woman's court dress) made from fine muslin with applied tinsel, spangles and foil, Mughal empire or Deccan, late 18th or early 19th century

The decision-making process for a reshuffle began a year ago in liaison with the conservation department, technicians, photographers and design unit. The rehang finally took eight working days. “During the installation itself we had to be particularly careful about manoeuvring large textiles into cases. But our highly-skilled technicians and conservators were able to cope,” says Patel.


Divia Patel, Photo by Phil Dunlop

Among the highlights in the textiles section is a mid-19th century child's red silk angarkha or robe from north India, embellished with silver-and-gold flowers in metal-wrapped thread. Another attraction is a late 18th/early 19th century peshwaz or a woman's court dress, made from fine muslin with applied tinsel, spangles and foil.


Ivory miniature of Ram Mohan Roy

Occupying centre stage among paintings are eight folios from the Akbarnama (Book of Akbar), and a variety of paintings from the Pahari, Rajasthani, Lucknow, Murshidabad, and the Company schools. A major highpoint is a delicate c.1765 opaque watercolour with gold on paper by artist Hunhar, who worked in the Mughal court in Delhi. It shows a queen smoking hookah, watching a musical show put up by her female attendants, ascetics and a Jain nun in a courtyard lit with candelabra and floor lanterns.

An element of surprise is a flamboyant ivory miniature of Ram Mohan Roy, founder of the Brahmo Sabha movement. The social reformer is painted wearing a ribbed turban, long-sleeved red kurta with floral embroidered bands, a stole in a knot at his waist and matching bead neckpieces.

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