Mapping the boundaries

The two-month exhibition ‘Cosmology to Cartography: A Cultural Journey of Indian Maps’, organised by Hyderabad-based Kalakriti Archives in association with National Museum (NM) which is hosting the event and has lent two of the 72 maps on display at the innovatively-designed gallery with black walls and occasional red props, was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, Dr Mahesh Sharma on Tuesday evening. 

The exhibition commenced in the presence of US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, and Union Culture Secretary Narendra Kumar Sinha.

“Youngsters of today should take this mission further forward,” said Mahesh Sharma about the event which was curated by London-based Indian architect Dr Vivek Nanda along with German cartographer Alexander Johnson and displayed schematically. 

Kalakriti Archives, headed by art and heritage patron Prashant Lahoti and has the country’s most comprehensive private collection of historical maps, has been laid out by Siddhartha Chatterjee who runs designing firm <g data-gr-id="31">Seechange</g>.

About the exhibition which has its oldest exhibit from the early 15th century and another which is the largest at a size of 10ftx15ft, diplomat Verma noted that some of the 15th-century maps at the show succeeded in coming close to the modern-day satellite images of the places represented. Out of the two maps from the NM reserve, one is an 18th-century Rajasthani image of Lord Krishna showing his cosmic Vishwaroopa form, while the other is a five-century-old <g data-gr-id="35">water colour</g> work showing Hyderabad’s Nizam Ali Khan giving audience to French envoy M Bussy with the Walled City as a sprawling backdrop. NM Director-General Sanjiv Mittal, while welcoming the gathering, appreciated the Kalakriti Archives’ efforts to throw its collections open to the public. “Not many private collectors do it,” he added.

‘Cosmology to Cartography’ which includes maps depicting the contest for imperial dominance over India as fought between France and Britain, and backed by their respective Indian allies, is slated to conclude on October 11. It features a rich variety of sources, painted and printed Indian maps produced in the subcontinent and a variety of nations, including original manuscript representations. Spanning 400 years until the early 19th century, their narrative broadens after commencing with Jain and Hindu cosmological representations, through to painted hangings depicting sacred rivers and pilgrimage sites before, eventually, to the transition of cartographic depictions of the ancient European conception of the subcontinent.

The exhibition concludes with maps that indicate the birth of the modern Indian city. These include Medieval Hyderabad and Bangalore, and the Enlightenment model of French Pondicherry. Visitors can also discover extraordinary plans of future Indian metropolises including Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.