The museum - which is one of my favorite places in the city - is a stone's throw away from Kala Ghoda. I had read about the Cyrus Cylinder exhibition there so I decided to check it out. On reaching there, I discovered that it was holding two more exhibitions - one of paintings by late artist Mr. Mohan Samant (1924-2004) and another titled 'Flemish Masterpieces From Antwerp'. The entry ticket an Indian adult is Rs 60. I paid Rs 20 for mobile photography and was given a bright pink paper strip as the receipt for it. The guy at the security gate tied it to my hand. I understand that the color was bright so that the guards can observe it even from a distance but nonetheless it felt weird to roam about with a bright pink band on my hand (kinda reminded me of college friendship days!) :-)
Now about the Cyrus Cylinder. King Cyrus the Great (576-530 BC) founded the Achaemenid Dynasty 2600 years ago in ancient Persia. His thoughts are inscribed on this sun-dried clay cylinder found in city walls in Babylon (now in Iraq). As per the information displayed in the exhibition it is also probably the oldest known declaration of human rights! Along with this cylinder the exhibition also displays a couple of coins, seals and things used in religious rituals. I took some photos outside the main exhibit hall but was dismayed to find that photography was prohibited inside. :-( This exhibition is on till 25th February.
A disclaimer is in order before I write about the two painting exhibitions - I don't understand a thing about paintings unless it depicts nature. And I absolutely hated the drawing class in school though God knows the hapless teacher did his best to reform me!
There wasn't a soul in sight when I stepped into the hall displaying paintings by late artist Mr. Mohan Samant except for two security people. I realized that the paintings had a sort of layered effect - real objects had been used along with what was painted in different sections of the drawings. It was an interesting technique which I had never seen anywhere so far. But sadly there was no information given about it. The plaque below each painting just named it, if all all, along with the period in which it was painted. I must confess though that barring one or two, I wasn't able to make head or tail out of any of them - despite the name on the plaque. And most of them appeared downright creepy to my untrained eyes - especially the ones which contained skulls and skeletons, hopefully fake ones! Decidedly, stuff that nightmares are made up of. I left rather hurriedly.
I wasn't too keen on going to the 'Flemish Masterpieces From Antwerp' after this experience but decided to check it out anyways now that I was here. I was relieved that I was able to understand what the paintings were all about without having to glance at the plaques. I especially liked a family portrait, the bull market as well as a huge painting depicting evening time. Of course, this exhibition too had more than its fair share of the creepy, the scary and the melancholy - a painting depicting food meant for the poorer sections of the society and another one of a pile of hunted animals like rabbits (despite being a non-vegetarian I turned away from this one).
In a way I was glad that no photography was allowed in either of the painting exhibitions. :-( But I had paid some money to be allowed to take pictures - though it was a paltry sum of Rs 20. So before leaving I did manage to take a few snaps of the idols on display on the ground floor.
I must say that it was petty on my part to do that just to get the maximum bang for the buck paid - something I am neither proud of nor would have thought myself capable of doing. But then we do end up surprising ourselves every now and then. This was just one more such instance for me.
Now about the Cyrus Cylinder. King Cyrus the Great (576-530 BC) founded the Achaemenid Dynasty 2600 years ago in ancient Persia. His thoughts are inscribed on this sun-dried clay cylinder found in city walls in Babylon (now in Iraq). As per the information displayed in the exhibition it is also probably the oldest known declaration of human rights! Along with this cylinder the exhibition also displays a couple of coins, seals and things used in religious rituals. I took some photos outside the main exhibit hall but was dismayed to find that photography was prohibited inside. :-( This exhibition is on till 25th February.
A disclaimer is in order before I write about the two painting exhibitions - I don't understand a thing about paintings unless it depicts nature. And I absolutely hated the drawing class in school though God knows the hapless teacher did his best to reform me!
There wasn't a soul in sight when I stepped into the hall displaying paintings by late artist Mr. Mohan Samant except for two security people. I realized that the paintings had a sort of layered effect - real objects had been used along with what was painted in different sections of the drawings. It was an interesting technique which I had never seen anywhere so far. But sadly there was no information given about it. The plaque below each painting just named it, if all all, along with the period in which it was painted. I must confess though that barring one or two, I wasn't able to make head or tail out of any of them - despite the name on the plaque. And most of them appeared downright creepy to my untrained eyes - especially the ones which contained skulls and skeletons, hopefully fake ones! Decidedly, stuff that nightmares are made up of. I left rather hurriedly.
I wasn't too keen on going to the 'Flemish Masterpieces From Antwerp' after this experience but decided to check it out anyways now that I was here. I was relieved that I was able to understand what the paintings were all about without having to glance at the plaques. I especially liked a family portrait, the bull market as well as a huge painting depicting evening time. Of course, this exhibition too had more than its fair share of the creepy, the scary and the melancholy - a painting depicting food meant for the poorer sections of the society and another one of a pile of hunted animals like rabbits (despite being a non-vegetarian I turned away from this one).
In a way I was glad that no photography was allowed in either of the painting exhibitions. :-( But I had paid some money to be allowed to take pictures - though it was a paltry sum of Rs 20. So before leaving I did manage to take a few snaps of the idols on display on the ground floor.
I must say that it was petty on my part to do that just to get the maximum bang for the buck paid - something I am neither proud of nor would have thought myself capable of doing. But then we do end up surprising ourselves every now and then. This was just one more such instance for me.
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