Sep 07 2025 to Sep 07 2025 4 p.m.

Where

Museum of Art & Photography (MAP)

Kasturba Road, Bengaluru 560001

Event Description

At the stroke of midnight in 1947, while the world slumbered, India emerged to “life and freedom”, according to its first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. At the dawn of the nation-state, and imbued with Nehru’s secular-syncretic aspirations, the Progressive Artists’ Group was formed in ‘Bombay’. Often considered India’s most high-profile Moderns, and celebrated (or castigated) as such, the PAG continues to haunt the Indian imagination – and dominate its art auctions.

But, why this continuing obsession with these early figures of India’s awakening? Moreover, how helpful is the PAG’s aesthetic vision today? This talk re-visits the PAG – including its second ‘wave’ of members (e.g Krishen Khanna) and close associates (e.g. Tyeb Mehta and Ram Kumar) in the context of recent exhibitions. Are we asking the right questions of the Indian Moderns?

This programme is in conjunction with Shape of a Thought: Letters from Ram Kumar.