There was a whole statement being made. This is regressive, and at some level, the citizens of Mumbai need to stand up for themselves and counter-argue these baseless statements.". She thinks that curators need to understand their material thoroughly and then engage deeply with the art; for they need to understand how to present an exhibition and how to give it visual strength. Please wait while you are being redirected to the next page. A mashrabiyya screen separates the desk from the living area. With piles of books scattered everywhere, the large office of art historian Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, managing trustee and honorary director of Mumbai's Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, looks eloquently cluttered. "We have fights about that. Before youve taken two steps in, youve probably got grubby fingerprints on a Gulammohammed Sheikh; walked into an antique spindle table with about 5,000 pieces of handcrafted brass; and sat on an exquisite mirror-work cushion salvaged from gatthriwalis (travelling fabric saleswomen). Unlimited access to Mid-Day Gold; Exclusive and in-depth stories; Premium stories from Sunday Mid-Day; Best Value Deal! The elder, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, is an art historian and writer, living in Mumbai. "I've been doing everything according to the rule book." While Zakaria hasn't reacted to the jab, his sister, Tasneem Mehta felt it seemed Coulter hadn't watched Zakaria's program. Currently, Paula is a writer and a teacher. Mount Holyoke College is a womens college that is gender diverse. "We only see her as this level-headed, strong, focused woman who wants to get things done in a specific format. ', Hindu organisations to hold rally in Mumbai to protest encroachments of Shivaji forts and historical places in Maharashtra. Topics Mehta clarifies that she's not on a notice period but in a strong legal arrangement that keeps her put till 2023. The secret to her 33-year-old marriage, says Mehta, is giving space and sharing interests. Mumbai News Live Updates: Congress Ravindra Dhangekar wins battle of prestige in Kasba; BJPs Ashwini Jagtap ahead in Chinchwad, BJP in talks to form govts in all 3 NE states, says development agenda beat Opp anti-minority claims against it, Extremely Compromised (EC) can become Extremely Competent (EC): Oppn reacts to SC CEC ruling, Year before polls, Odisha to start backward classes survey, sets July 12 deadline, https://images.indianexpress.com/2020/08/1x1.png, Our best subscription plan now has a special price, MHADA razes illegal structures freeing up nearly 9 acres of land in Mumbai. The book was released to honour the museum itself, the contributions of those who were instrumental. The couple stayed together for 21 years until Later when Paula filed for divorce and due to unavoidable circumstances they finalized their divorced in 2018. In 2010, she was elected Vice Chairman of INTACH, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and has been the Convenor of the Mumbai Chapter and member of the Governing Council since 1996. She insists I sit comfortably, though. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is on the board of Wockhardt Ltd. and Managing Trustee at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum and Member of International Council of The Museum of Modern Art. We do workshops with the craftsmen as well. This brought her to an interesting conundrum, says Tasneem Zakaria Mehta. The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards. If you have questions But she is still here (despite the notice). Register to attend the 2023 Art Curators Conference, offering in-person and virtual access. Museums are not only repositories of the past but an excellent environment for experimental, interdisciplinary learning. If, as a museum, you are not worried about your funding, then you can choose to not worry about your marketing and footfalls either. She also served as the editor of the Taj magazine of the Taj Hotels. Ive seen my mother fight through thick and thin to continue what she loves. Mumbai - A City Through Objects, edited by the Museum's Director Tasneem Zakaria Mehta and co-published by Harper Design tells the story of the city and the evolution of the Museum through a selection of a hundred and one unique objects in the collection of the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum. George Birdwood, the first curator of the museum, didnt think Indians were capable of sculpture or fine arts. Ms Mehta is a Vice President of the International Council of the MoMA, New York. Thereafter, she introduced a hotel management course in alliance with a British university. Ms Mehta is the Managing Trustee and Honorary Director of the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum in Mumbai, a. We have continued this as part of the museums revitalisation programme and have invited contemporary artists to respond to our archives and collections. Another big exhibition is titled 'Kindred Nations', which is about a relationship between India and America that goes back to the 17th century. "My father was liberal. Is healing and redemption possible? In fact, Mr Kunte [the Municipal Commissioner] has publicly said that I was doing a great job. The exhibition invited viewers to form their own conclusions and share these in a dialogue that continued for the length of the exhibition through many activities and discussions. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta has a deep and abiding passion for textiles, visible here in the Shyam Ahuja fabric on the sofa on the right. United States. My father was in the government, so we lived in this beautiful colonial bungalow on Carmichael Road (now ML Dahanukar Marg) for about 15 years, and this house has a kind of resonance with [the one I grew up in]. They held their wedding in 1997 in a wonderful ceremony. Of course, there was the Lakme Fashion Show fiasco recently, where the finale couldn't take place in the Museum as planned after threats were received from the MNS. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is an art historian, curator, designer, and cultural activist. Mehta's next six months are quite busy. A leaders of Indias heritage preservation movement, Mehta has successfully pioneered the revival and restoration of several of Mumbais important cultural sites. The second is Mansoor Zakaria, a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur who is now a partner in a wealth management firm. BDL director Tasneem Zakaria Mehta says the public-private partnership between the Bajaj Group and the Mumbai authorities is what finally allowed the museum's restoration and conservation. I love working out to this music because theres so much energy or emotion in each song. They called them modellers. Curatorial Director: Tasneem Zakaria Mehta 19 May 2022 - 04 Oct 2022 New Found Lands: The Indian Landscape from Empire to Freedom In collaboration with DAG Curated by Dr. Giles Tillotson Nov 27, 2021 - Apr 19, 2022 Birds of India: Company Paintings, c. 1800 to 1835 . Last Updated at February 3, 2018 05:58 IST. ", The Museum has a well-planned mix of Indian contemporary, Indian 19th century and international shows (often in partnership with other museums around the world) to draw diverse audiences. Each artist explored a different theme such as alienation, pollution, destruction of biodiversity, unnatural divisions, mutations and distortions, the politics of water and waste and the destruction of landscapes and rivers. Curators on what makes them pick some artworks over others; and the intersection of art with time Paula Throckmorton is the wife of famous journalist and author Fareed Zakaria. Then you have to get into technical aspects, like the idea of form, the spatial aspect, the vocabulary that's used, etcetera. To this end, she's also trained her staff, who she refers to as "my kids", to be particular about interacting with guests as well as about writing emails. rights reserved, India's Q3 GDP numbers: Testing growth guardrails, L'affaire Adani and the colonial mindset in our approach to governance, Adani-owned ports may use their pricing power. "I always came first in art at Cathedral & John Connon School and graduated in Fine Arts from JJ School of Arts," she says. In order to access website you need to accept our cookie policy. With degrees from Delhi University in English Literature, Sir JJ School of Art in Textile Design, Christie's in London in Modern and Contemporary Art, and New York's Columbia University in Liberal Arts, among others, Mehta has been deeply immersed in her love for both art and writing throughout her life. Whats their significance? Though, in the end, the Municipal Corporation bore 50 per cent of the cost as the building was stuck due to lack of funds. I am also incredibly interested in womens empowerment. or concerns about this article, please contact. Mrs. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is the Director of Mumbai's Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum. Buy Now | Our best subscription plan now has a special price. Even though the museum is a historic place, it was always meant to reflect contemporary design and innovation in the arts, showcasing the best examples of Indian craftsmanship that was in high demand in the international market. Mehta invited the then-municipal commissioner Subodh Kumar for a personal tour, and put forth her suggestion. Contents: Education and Career Personal Life Net Worth. Regardless, if I were to define love, for me at this time in my life it would entail spending time with my friends and laughing endlessly.Courtesy: Hello! Fareed and Paula are blessed with three children namely, Lila Zakaria, Omar Zakaria, and Sofia Zakaria. A leaders of India's heritage preservation movement, Mehta has successfully pioneered the revival and restoration of several of Mumbai's important cultural sites. ALSO READ: Forging solidarities across differences: Nancy Adajania. Mehta says this is a worthwhile vision. The city and the Museum developed together, each inflecting the other's evolution. [4], In 1963, Zakaria began her career in journalism as a children's columnist in The Illustrated Weekly of India and worked as Khushwant Singh's assistant editor. BDL revived the art scene after its 2008 relaunch. In this interview to Frontline, she talks of that most critical aspect of museumshow to stay relevant and continue to engage the public. BDL completed 150 years in 2022, and to celebrate that we did some in-depth research on our collections and brought out a book Mumbai: A City Through Objects 101 Stories from the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum that was co-published with Harper Collins and authored and edited by me. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is an art historian, curator, and cultural activist, best known for bringing the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum (BDL) in Mumbai out of obscurity. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Zakaria is married to Paula Throckmorton. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is synonymous with the 144-year-old Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum (BDL). "Ask the museum staff (about our arguments)," he laughs, recalling that every phase of the museum's restoration saw a clash of the titans, especially the one over air-conditioning the space 24x7 as per international standards. The museums robust exhibition programme invites importantcontemporary artists,such as Jitish Kallat, Sudarshan Shetty, Nalini Malani and L.N. Many architecture and design colleges have expressed interest in teaching the book as a case study of narrating object histories as stories. It is very different to the normal path a museum treads. The museum architecture is classical but the content is very much contemporary of that time. Last updated on Jun 29, 2017, 10.07. The space now thrives as a venue for workshops, talks, lectures, craft melas, book sales and even a diploma course on Modern and Contemporary Art and Curatorial Practice. The book captures the pluralism thats inherent in the museum collection, right from a diorama of Emperor Jehangir on Shikar (1927-28) to Mumbadevis statue (2009). Ive always believed that honesty and respect are very closely linked. YOUR HEROES IN REAL LIFE: My real life hero is my dada, Jagat Singh Mehta. Everything went from and came into Bombay. Arshad Zakaria, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta: School: Cathedral and John Connan School, Mumbai: College: Yale University: Religion: Islam: Nationality: Indian: Zodiac Sign: Aquarius: Gender: Male: . 05:58 IST. CONTENT. Are museums always about the past or can you curate things of the present already receding into the past? Mehta is currently busy evaluating event and exhibition proposals for 2016. Visiting or Connecting with Mount Holyoke, Copyright 2021 Trustees of Mount Holyoke College. Human and group interaction is far more valuablethan anything one can find on Google, at least for the time being. Still more artworks sit packed away atop cupboards, stacked in her daughters room, and their other house in New Delhi, waiting their turn on the walls. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is the honorary director of the museum and has a Board of Management and Trustees that include the mayor and the municipal commissioner of Mumbai. She has been associated with diverse fields like journalism, social work . Morning walks three times a week at the BPT garden is how she de-stresses, and spends Sundays holed up, reading. "I have curated the whole museum. Tallur, among others,to respond to the collection, to the history and archives, addressing issues that speak directly to the traditions and tensions that underlie the founding of the museum, yet invoke the present by challenging orthodoxies and questioning assumptions. This work has a particular resonance in the museums space as despite the colonial interest, promotion and eulogising of Indian craftsmanship, the craftsman was rarely acknowledged, and remained anonymous and unrecognised in the museum space. But Mehtas fierce love for the modern and contemporaryshes entirely responsible for transforming the fusty Bhau Daji Lad Museum into a dynamic showcase for Indian art todayfinds expression on every wall in her home. In 2005 the museum was awarded a UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award of Excellence and has become an important cultural hub and platform for showcasing contemporary and historic exhibitions. Mumbai: A City through Objects tells the story of a city through unique objects in the collection of the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, the erstwhile Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay. For example, we have a full day games melaor a childrens festival where the whole family participates. The museum continues to hold discussions on climate change, health, and sustainability among other topics, which are all extremely well-received. Its overwhelming, the sheer volume of art in Tasneem Zakaria Mehtas house impossible to take in in one sitting or even five; but every piece has resonance in her life. The public-private partnership was formed in 2003, when the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) got together to manage the Museum. Mehta spent her childhood drawing and painting and being a go-getter came naturally. We focus on how great we were in the past, but what about today? The book Mumbai A City Through Objects compiles 101 objects and stories from the museums collection. As of 2023, Fareed Zakaria's Net Worth is $15 million. ", De refers to Mehta as 'steel magnolia' tough when required, sentimental at times and as beautiful as an intoxicating flower. Our book, Mumbai through Objects, attempts to engage audiences in a panoramic journey that helps make better sense of the present. Works by several artistsincluding Jitish Kallat (from his first exhibition), Archana Hande, Binode Behari Mukherjee, BV Suresh, and Anandjit Rayare on the wall behind the desk. Please allow notification and avoid private mode for this feature to work. Could you tell us more about this? BDL has already hosted exhibitions around this and will continue to engage with civic issues as well as questions around decolonisation, gender disparity, injustice and violence. Maharashtra bypoll: Will Independent candidate Rahul Kalate help BJP in Chinchwad? The exhibition presented the works of ten contemporary artists whose practice includes an interest in nature and science or consumption and degradation as process and product, to respond to these ideas and . The overall programming has been a huge success. 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