Tag Archives: map Bangalore

The cats on the MAP in Bangalore (Bengaluru)

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I LOVE CATS. So, I was keen to visit the exhibition, “The Many Lives of the Cat”, which is being held at MAP (Museum of Art and Photography) in Bangalore until 29 March 2026. This small but beautifully displayed exhibition is, according to MAP’s website:

“… a showcase of how the Indian cat appears in paintings, sculptures, matchbox covers, artist sketchbooks and more.”

 

The works on show include those of lesser-known creators, as well as paintings and sketches by well-known ‘modern’ artists including: Bhupen Khakhar, Arpita Singh, and Jamini Roy. There are also older prints and paintings made in the nineteenth century and earlier.

 

Each of the artworks is properly labelled. In addition, there are quotes from a book,  “The Indian Cat”, by the art critic and historian BN Goswamy (1933-2023). After seeing the show and looking at his beautiful book that was on display at MAP, I purchased a copy at my favourite Bangalore bookstore: The Bookworm in Church Street.

 

Even if you are not a cat lover, this is a wonderful collection of artworks. When I mentioned to a friend that I  had just visited the exhibition,  he said:

“I am severely allergic to cats.”

I replied that the cats in MAP were worth seeing and would do him no harm. I am not sure he was convinced.

 

MAP, which opened only a few years ago is housed in an attractive contemporarily designed building on Kasturba Road, which is interesting to see even if you are either allergic to cats or have little interest in viewing an exhibition. That said, I left the exhibition happy to have seen it. And had I been a cat, I would have been left MAP purring contentedly.

An interesting exhibition of painting combined with photography: doctored images

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THE MUSEUM OF ART and Photography (‘MAP’) on Kasturba Road is a relatively new addition to Bangalore’s cultural scene. When it opened in February 2023, we were amongst its first visitors. Privately financed by the Poddar family, it is housed in a recently constructed edifice. I prefer the appearance of its interior to that of its exterior.

MAP describes itself as a museum of art and photography. The institution is home to a large collection of photographs created over the many years since the technique was invented. Much photography is in my opinion also art. However, the present exhibition at MAP, which is on until the 24th of March 2024, combines a traditional art form – painting – with photography. The show is called “What the camera didn’t see”.

The British born artist Alexander Gorlizki (born 1967) , who holds a higher degree from the Slade School of Art (at University College London) and now works in NYC, has teamed up with Pink City Studio – a group of miniaturist painters in Jaipur – to present historic photographs in a new light.

The exhibition at MAP consists of several old photographs from the museum’s collection and new reproductions or prints of these vintage images. Gorlizki and his colleagues have taken the reproductions and painted over them in the traditional Mughal miniature style, but leaving faces in the photographs uncovered by paint.

The resulting ‘doctored’ photographs are mostly quite whimsical and witty. The highly imaginative ideas of the artists are skilfully and beautifully superimposed on the reproductions of the old photographs. Thus, the art of the original photographers has been metamorphosed by contemporary painters in Jaipur in collaboration with their curator, Alexander Gorlizki. The results, which are on display at MAP, are both amusing and most pleasing aesthetically . This is an exhibition well worth seeing.