Holding to a past in the present

As we enter the Dhoomimal Gallery, sounds of melody and chaos reverberate. A soundtrack of mellow clinking of glasses and a soft murmur remind us of pre-Independence days, when Anglo-Indians and the Parsi community lived in Connaught Place (CP), sharing camaraderie over food and wine. Move a little further, and sounds from CP’s streets — from hawkers selling goods on pavements reminding of tehbazari (street vending) to a track playing ‘Delhi Metro Mein Aapka Swagat Hai’ present the evolving space that this complex had become post-2000s where Delhi Metro increased accessibility to the area to all its citizens.

The commotion on the streets echo the bargaining at CP’s movable markets in Palika Bazaar and the Janpath flea bazaar that sprung to life beside its glorious Emporiums and high-street stores. A track playing a live performance of the song ‘Muskurane’ by Arijit Singh is also heard; it reminds us of the CP now — a social, urban place with people thronging its new-age cafés, bars, and international retail stores. These are field recordings done over four months by sound artist Anandit Sachdev to encapsulate the essence of CP.

What has changed in its colonnaded verandas and what remains the same over the years? An ongoing exhibition ‘The Past Has A Home In The Future’ curated by head of arts organisation Jackfruit Research and Design, Annapurna Garimella, looks at the shifts and constants of CP through the works of those who have captured its spirit — photographers Pablo and Richard Bartholomew, Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, artist-designer Riten Mozumdar, Patua artist Anwar Chitrakar, fashion designer Dhruv Vaish, and legacy stores like Salwan Furnishing, and musical instrument shop Rikhi Ram, amongst others.

“The exhibition presents a synchronic and diachronic narrative of the place and people, especially through the story of the Dhoomimal Gallery,” says Garimella, adding that the display is an attempt to find “tenderness” in public space.

Locus of art

To imagine the evolution of a robust residential-turned-commercial hub like CP is a lofty task. However, a look at its oldest art and culture institutions, like the host Dhoomimal Gallery, can make it less daunting. We spoke to Uday Jain, gallery director, during our walk-through who is the grandson of Delhi’s renowned merchant Ram Babu who started Dhoomimal as a paper, art material and stationery shop in 1935. “In 1936, he offered the first floor of this shop to the meeting place of Delhi’s artists, known by the name of Kalakar Club. By 1957, this space turned into our art gallery,” he says about the first art gallery to open in CP and one that had close ties with modernists like FN Souza, SH Raza, Anjolie Ela Menon, MF Husain and others.

The world was here

CP harboured a global exchange of culture in legacy cinema halls like Odeon, Rivoli, and Regal that doubled up as cultural spaces too. A photograph taken in the 1960s by Homai Vyarawalla, India’s first woman photographer, showed performances by celebrated singer Laura Hamilton from Britain regaling a packed house at Regal Theatre (cinema). However, it was with The Beatles’ visit to CP’s oldest music shop, Rikhi Ram and Sons, that changed the tide for CP.

A monochrome photograph from the archives of the shop captured guitarist George Harrison playing a sitar from the shop’s collection — a cedar wood sitar from the shop’s collection crowns a pedestal at the exhibit to mark that history. The visit brought a surge of tourists leading to the boom of hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs, introducing the area to hippie culture. Photographer Pablo Bartholomew trained his lens on the cultural mood with a photograph captioned, “A hippy couple walks hand in hand near Regal Cinema in CP in 1974” where the Eastern world was meeting Western influences; the couple in the photograph sported braided hair, and Indo-western outfits paired with a printed sling bag.

A hub of fashion

Post Independence, CP expanded from limited exclusive shops ranging from Imperial Leather Works for leather goods, and Duli Chand for equestrian accessories to the starting of Central Cottage Industries Emporiums (CCIE) and Fabindia as a bastion of local handloom textiles.

Vyarawalla captured the glamorous pulse of CCIE with a monochrome photograph of Queen Elizabeth II attending a fashion show there in 1961. Textile designer Rema Kumar, on the other hand, paid an ode to artist-designer Riten Mozumdar, who worked with CCIE, and FabIndia to popularise modest cotton-made textile goods. Kumar adorned the exhibition walls with a massive display of handwoven and hand-blocked saris and stoles featuring geometrical shapes of circles, lines, triangles and squares in shades of reds, blacks, oranges, and magentas, inspired by the textiles of Mozumdar.

“I was fascinated with how he perceived colours through their tones despite being colour blind,” Kumar tells TMS, adding that the exhibition highlights the significance of “individual artistry” within the context of the textile history of CP.

CP was also a “centre” for bespoke men’s tailoring, points designer Dhruv Vaish whose menswear designs of bandhgala and jacket were a centrepiece at the exhibition. “I have taken some classic men’s garments from those times and presented them in a modern version that is relevant today,” tells the designer, who had spent 21 years of his life in CP.

“Earlier CP was full of small boutique stores. Now it’s more about big high-street brands with even bigger stores than before like H&M, Uniqlo etc,” he notes.

Recent transformation

The exhibition also displayed 33 images captured by photographer Madan Mahatta, whose family started Mahatta & Co. — the oldest photography store in CP. The photography store’s images showcase the transformation of CP, from Jantar Mantar in a picture captured in 1983 to a tunnel being laid in CP in 2013, showing urban transformation.

Mahatta tells us about the changeover of CP in the last 20 years, “In the pre-Metro era, it was an exclusive hub for Delhi’s elite, with iconic stores like ours, Wenger’s, Kwality etc. Post-Metro has seen improved connectivity and increased footfall inviting a diverse, especially younger crowd than just elites. There’s a shift towards commercialisation with global brands coming up. The night-life is bustling with the growth of restaurants, bars, and cafés and one can spot urban revitalisation with enhanced infrastructure, pedestrian-friendly initiatives, and security measures.”

Despite the urban changes, he believes that CP’s essence remains – a “dynamic” and “inclusive” space reflecting Delhi’s rich cultural heritage.

‘The Past Has A Home In Future’ is on till December 7 at Dhoomimal Gallery, Connaught Place, from 11 am to 7 pm.