| Indian Summer at the British Museum |
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 LONDON Designers and artists have often looked east for inspiration. The recent renaissance of Indian prints in fashion and the immense cinematographic success of “Slumdog Millionaire” are only tokens of this revival.With its “Indian Summer”, the British Museum offers us a timely season of events and exhibition focused on India. “Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur” is a rare opportunity to view a unique type of Indian royal court painting ranging in date from the 17th-19th centuries. The exhibition features an exceptional loan from India, made up of a treasured collection of 56 paintings belonging to the royal collection at the Mehrangarh Museum trust in Jodhpur. Remarkably, none of these paintings has ever previously been displayed in Europe.  The Mandala of Shiva If you have travelled to modern Rajasthan, you will recognize the timeless, tiny, hair-like brush stokes on vibrant hues, two dimensional, watercolours. The exhibition starts with “Garden” a depiction of the pleasures of the royal Marwar-jodhpur court in 1700's. The preservation state of these delicate paintings is a source of fascination equal to the subject matters. Scenes of festivals and musical merriments, in lush gardens, under canopies which floral pattern can be seen on other paintings down to the bedspreads, but also on a real canopy several hundred years old hanging above the visitors' head.  Artists used squirrel-tail brushes to outline the forms. Luminous surfaces were created by rubbing the backs of paintings with a smooth stone to fuse the pigment. The depiction of court life is at its most impressive when there is a large crowd of people either be thin-waste women or men in military uniforms. The first part of the exhibition also includes vibrant illustrations of the great Indian epics, especially of the Ramayana with Krisha's enchanted grove and ash-covered skin immortal ascetic. The second part of the exhibition “Cosmos” focuses on paintings commissioned by Maharaja Man Singh during his 40 years reign between 1803 and 1843. Man Singh was the Bakhat Singh's great-grandson. A fervent devotee of the Nath yogis, a religious sect.  In all, he commissioned more than 1,000 paintings to illustrate metaphysical concepts – and also to establish the political legitimacy of this esoteric group. The Nath guru is shown superior to the traditional Hindu gods. In their subject matter, the paintings turn away from the glowing exterior world of court life and instead address the interior world of philosophical speculation and the origin of the universe. The painting techniques are difference, the backgrounds are no longer intricate patterns but blocks of single shimmering colours, such as gold pigment, which represent the Absolute.  Paintings were used as maps for followers to portray the relationship between multiple worlds and human bodies. In the landscape scenes gods are ever present.  The exhibition concludes with mysterious paintings which illustrate an unknown Nath text which symbolic code remains unbroken to these days. To complement the exhibition Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur, the British Museum is collaborating with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to create an Indian-themed landscape on the Museum’s west lawn. There is also number of lectures, workshop and study days, films, family events associated to this exhibition. A series of 45 minutes free, drop in, talks given by the curator and other experts is running until the 26 of August.
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