Nap Time in early Modern South Asia
Curator's note: In the process of exploring numerous paintings from early modern South Asia, the sensorial details revealed abundant scents and flavours, but significantly, this world dedicated a language to the sublime concept of leisure!
Across courtyards, camp sites and forests, are depictions of figures resting under the open sky on finely crafted beds on their moonlit terraces, or within the security of ornately embroidered tents, or under the cool shade of banana trees in gardens. Such visual delights made me consider my foundational intent for building Bagh-e Hind and inspired an offshoot that springs from my own pursuit of leisure and aimless "time-pass". More on my reasoning for this offshoot can be read in Newsletter 14: Nap Time in Mughal India.
In the following galleries, three scholars select their favourite paintings depicting deep slumber, rest and leisure and offer insightful nap-time stories.
September 2022
Canopies & Courtyards
Take a leisurely stroll through a painted landscape of deep sleep
"The slumberous king of Hind"
Pasha M. Khan selects a folio from
Hamza-nama
"The dream of Zulaykha"
Nicolas Roth selects a Mughal folio
from the Amber Album
"The king places the talisman on his sleeping wife"
Sunil Sharma selects a Mughal folio
from the Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
Play Time in Mughal India
Curator's note: I have an unwavering love for optimism, retro sci-fi, and for my colleague Nicolas Roth’s Massachusetts-based gardening practice that merges his expertise in Mughal era horticulture with a contemporary understanding of plants, flowers and perfumery. As I have pulled so much from his various published texts and metaphorically “plucked his flowers”, I made him a unique edition Nic in the Bagh Playset in return. This 17 piece set of hand painted pop-ups also comes with synesthesia elements such as the perfumes Outer Space, Banana Leaf, Castoreum & Grapes, and Champaca. And a special tea titled “Emperor Jahangir’s vacations in Kashmir, c.1600”.
Here, in this playset, we have some fun. For instance, I have reproduced specific banana trees so prominently painted in 17th and 18th century Rajput paintings and mixed them up with paintings of the same trees currently growing in his garden. Now he has to guess which is which!
The pop-ups of the two rose bushes: are they from his garden or are they from the 18th century Udaipur painting in our exhibition? And what about the glorious clusters of narcissi and iris?
There’s also chaos and danger. As an ever present symbol of mischief, I painted a cute little bunny — but is that bunny a real menace eating up all his flowers and beans or is that a bunny visiting from one 19th century Udaipur painting?
Then there are the turkeys. Are they the ones that visit his garden regularly or are they Emperor Jahangir’s prized pets exploring the present timeline?
Is that a space ship from 1960s Star Trek emerging from a cobalt blue cumulus circa 1650? Or is that me scanning and beaming up all of Nicolas’ plants?
September 2023
