Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, curator of the ongoing exhibition Asymmetrical Objects, writes about how it visually addresses issues that plague modern society
As the 21 st century unfolds, new discoveries in science and technology have begun to transform our lives. We live in a globally connected world, inundated daily with news of the potentially devastating consequences of human actions on nature. How have we gotten to this state of being? And can artistic practice better sensitise us to emergent challenges? Art is a powerful tool to redress and reimagine our world. We at the museum feel it is time to look back and reflect. Assymetrical Objects, currently on display at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, endeavours to articulate a visual vocabulary that addresses these issues.
In January 2018, the museum completed 10 years since it reopened to the public in 2008, after a major restoration that took five years, and won UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific award of excellence. In March last year, the museum completed 160 years since it first opened in 1857. The exhibition takes its cue from the world’s earliest impulses — founded on nature and science — to establish the museum. In the 19th century, science represented certainty and objectivity. It held out the possibility of endless hope. However, the lens through which we view both today has radically changed.
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