A stone’s throw away from Cubbon Park in Bengaluru sits a white cuboid. This 44,000 sqft space is the city’s new art address. The brainchild of Bengaluru businessman and art collector Abhishek Poddar, the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) had its digital origins in 2020 as India’s first online-only museum. This year, it went physical, opening doors to the public with 60,000 artworks across genres—from classical to pop culture, tribal art to film ephemera, while also distinguishing itself as one of India’s only art museums with photography exhibits.
So there’s an ancient bronze Nataraja rubbing shoulders with Jitish Kallat’s Continuum, which shows the phases of the moon as a consumed chapati, and Manjit Bawa’s iconic Krishna Eating the Fire dominating one wall. In fact, 55-year-old Poddar donated 7,000 pieces of artwork from his private collection to MAP.
Museum director Kamini Sawhney says, “Today we need to rethink the idea of museums. They cannot be just repositories of objects. MAP is a space for ideas and conversations that we initiate through our collections. It becomes the tool through which we connect and engage with our audiences in multiple ways.” With five galleries on its premises, there are simultaneous exhibitions of the greats and disruptors from the field. For instance, on the occasion of the birth centenary of TS Satyan, one of India’s foremost photojournalists, MAP has mounted an exhibition that seeks to look beyond Satyan’s photojournalistic work and reframes him as someone who deeply cared about the people he photographed. Arnika Ahldag, head of exhibitions at MAP. “Satyan looks for those brief moments of joy in the chaos of hardships and always manages to show us something that we don’t expect to see.”
Earlier this month, the museum showcased Mindscapes by multidisciplinary Bengaluru-based artist Indu Antony, known for working with people from the fringes of society. The works of the 41-year-old—hand-stitched stories in cloth—were produced in collaboration with women from anganwadis in Lingarajapuram in the city.
Ordinary in its appearance, MAP resembles a tanki or water tank. It is the place one heads to for artistic nourishment. With three other museums in proximity, the architect team knew that the design had to be made in a way to bring change in the perception of the larger cultural domain. The stark building, free of columns with minimalistic interiors, has a library, a 130-seat auditorium, a sculpture courtyard, and a research and conservation laboratory. “In its character, the museum makes an iconic yet subtle presence, which is quiet, yet tastefully flamboyant,” says principal architect Soumitro Ghosh. Needless to say, MAP is a Disneyland for art enthusiasts.