Freedom struggle comes to life through artists who lived through it

The institute, one of Mumbai’s foundational institutions, will open a new gallery on Monday, with a special exhibition titled ‘Swaraj: Freedom We Saw, Freedom We Painted’

MUMBAI Memories of India’s freedom movement, one of the country’s most defining phases, are being brought to life through the brush strokes of those who lived through it – students and young artists of Mumbai’s Sir JJ School of Art, Architecture and Design.

Freedom struggle comes to life through artists who lived through it

The institute, one of Mumbai’s foundational institutions, will open a new gallery on Monday, with a special exhibition titled ‘Swaraj: Freedom We Saw, Freedom We Painted’. The exhibition will feature 43 rare paintings from the institute’s archives, many being publicly displayed for the first time.

The artworks, most of them created between the 1940s and late 1960s, show pivotal moments such as Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha, the Civil Disobedience Movement, the Quit India Movement, Partition and the years that followed.

Vice-chancellor Him Kumar Chatterjee told HT the idea for the exhibition came to him after a close look at the university’s archives. “When we look at the freedom movement through art, we mostly think about the Bengal School of Art. After I took charge as vice-chancellor and saw the archives, I realised that many paintings created by students of the Sir JJ School of Art were also based on the freedom movement. We decided that these works created in Mumbai should come into the public eye,” Chatterjee said.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by state chief secretary Rajesh Aggarwal at the recently restored Dean’s bungalow at the university’s fort campus. The bungalow has been converted into a museum and an art gallery. The university plans to use the space for exhibitions, research, conservation and public programmes based on its rich collection of artworks.

According to a statement released by the institute, a deemed university, the exhibition reveals that the studios of Sir JJ School of Art “were deeply engaged with the social and political currents of their time”. While many of the paintings were made as student exercises, they have “remarkable artistic merit and historical significance” and reflect both the Bombay Revival School and the rise of modern Indian art, the institute says.

The paintings include images of Gandhi as a symbol of hope and leadership, public marches, spinning wheels, village life, communal violence and the grief that followed Gandhi’s assassination.

Many of the works are unsigned, but they preserve the thoughts, emotions and hopes of young artists who witnessed one of the most important periods in Indian history. The exhibition also includes the early works of artists who became well-known names in Indian art, including VS Gaitonde, Laxman Pai, Jatin Das and Dilip Ranade.

Ranade, one of the two surviving alumni whose works are part of the exhibition, recalls, “I was a student at the JJ School of Art from 1966 to 1971. In 1968, there was a prestigious Dolly Cursetjee competition and the theme was the freedom struggle. I made a pencil drawing showing protests and violence during British rule. The artwork included a British soldier crushing the tricolour and a pigeon as a symbol of peace.”

Founded in 1857, Sir JJ School of Art has played an important role in the evolution of modern Indian art. The university says the exhibition celebrates not only artistic excellence but also the role of art in documenting history, preserving collective memory and shaping national consciousness.

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‘Swaraj: Freedom We Saw, Freedom We Painted’ will remain open to the public from August 3 to 18 between 11:00am and 6 pm at the Dean’s Bungalow Art Gallery at the Sir JJ School of Art, Architecture and Design, at the Fort campus.