“We moved Gods originating from the Ancient Mediterranean to Mumbai on a long-term visit to their Indian friends,” said Hermann Parzinger, president of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (SPK). “SPK as the largest cultural institution in Germany has manifold cooperations worldwide. We are proud to be part of this exceptional project in India which brings cooperation to a new level: not only are objects travelling, but also knowledge. Four sculptures from our collection are now being shown for the very first time in India, thanks to the partnership between the Antikensammlung, the British Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the CSMVS. This project can really promote a truly global and mutual understanding of world cultures.”
This collaboration is expected to have a lasting impact as curators bring this experience and knowledge back to their respective institutions:
“This is the future of international co-curation: closely collaborative from the very beginning, equally engaged and culturally aware—I have come away from Mumbai looking at our own objects with different eyes,” said Thorsten Opper, lead curator Mumbai, The British Museum.
“The two painted ceramic vessels that we’re lending depict images of Greek divinities and myths, and offer rich insights into how the Greeks perceived their gods—as both accessible and terrifying, ever-present yet always distinct,” said David Saunders, associate curator at the Getty Museum. “There’s already much in these themes to explore in terms of the movement of peoples and ideas within and beyond the ancient Mediterranean—as we’ve been doing in recent years through our Classical World in Context projects. But it’s even more fascinating to situate such conversations in Mumbai, and to juxtapose these vases with Indian traditions that continue to endure. It’s been a real pleasure to explore some of these topics with our colleagues at the CSMVS, and I look forward to the discussions that this exciting installation will engender.”
“The Berlin Collection of Classical Antiquities boasts a proud history of more than 350 years of display and research,” said Andreas Scholl, director of the Collection of Classical Antiquities, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. “My colleagues and I greatly appreciate the interest in our collection, our work and our intention to make classical antiquities from Berlin accessible to a very large Indian audience. And—what is equally important—to bring us in touch with India as one of the oldest, most sophisticated, and diverse cultures of the world.”
Educational Opportunities
The leaders of the project hope to re-energize curiosity towards the study of the ancient world, prompting young Indians to use museums as fertile resources for this inquiry. The 10-month display brings another new dimension: Mumbai’s schools and Indian universities can devise courses based on the objects, and the visiting objects can be used in school and university curricula.
CSMVS has also planned a series of lectures, films, and other activities, many of which will take place in cities outside of Mumbai.
The Ancient World Gallery at CSMVS
The exhibition is a prelude to a larger initiative on the ancient world: a new gallery on the ancient civilizations at CSMVS that will open in 2025. Having the CSMVS collection of ancient Indian material as its core, the gallery will focus on the four river cultures of Harappa (Indus civilization), Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China, expanding into the Persian, Greek, and Roman worlds, and stressing the legacies and oftentimes interconnectedness of these civilizations and how they continue to impact the world today. The Ancient World Gallery will once again be a collaboration of the four partner museums, supported by Getty.