Local touch: Piramal launches an art gallery in Mulund

It will showcase work by emerging artists, starting with a contemporary show this weekend.

Inaugural exhibition at Piramal’s new gallery in Mulund

WHEN: September 7 onwards

WHERE: Piramal Museum of Art – Mulund Gallery, Piramal Revanta, Mulund

Art is conquering new spaces. On Friday, the Piramal Museum of Art launches a 10,000-sq-ft gallery in Mulund.

It spans two floors in a residential tower by Piramal Realty, mirroring the museum’s three other galleries — at corporate parks in Lower Parel and Kurla and a residential tower in Byculla. Piramal is, in fact, a rare art foundation with no physical infrastructure in the Kala Ghoda art district or south Mumbai.

“Traditionally, a museum is located in one space with multiple galleries within it and each has a specialisation,” says Ashvin Rajagopalan, director of the Piramal Museum of Art. “We are trying to break that mould. Having several galleries allows us to have different focuses in different parts of the city and keep the curation fairly unique to those locations.”

For instance, the Lower Parel gallery has featured works by Modernist masters such as SH Raza and Abanindranath Tagore, while the Byculla space hold an MF Husain and VN Aji from the Piramal collection.

Delhi-based artist Nidhi Khurana’s installation featuring embroidered forms of Thane’s flora and fauna on fabrics is part of the inaugural exhibition.

“In Mulund, you’ll see less of the masters and more works by emerging and contemporary artists,” Rajagopalan says. Starting with an exhibition of mixed-media art works by 26 artists, created during their time at the Piramal artists’ residency in neighbouring Thane.

Titled Nurturing the Contemporary, highlights include site-specific installations by Pune-based artist Sachin Tekade and the Delhi-based Nidhi Khurana.

Tekade’s sculpture titled Aadhar juxtaposes small squares of paper with a wooden log to depict the binaries of manmade and natural forms. “The idea is that both the manmade and natural grow and evolve on a common base that is the Earth,” the artist says.

Sachin Tekade’s sculpture titled Aadhar juxtaposes small squares of paper with a wooden log to depict the binaries of man-made and natural forms.

Khurana’s installation features embroidered forms of local flora and fauna on fabrics framed in embroidery rings. “We wanted to highlight how the artists find ways to create a resonance between their inner and outer worlds,” says exhibition curator Vaishnavi Ramanathan.

Learning from past experience — the Lower Parel gallery, their first, was mistaken for a closed space and people weren’t sure if they could just walk in — the Piramal Art Foundation plans to make interactive events an integral part of this one.

Weekly art-based workshops are on the cards towards that end, Rajagopalan says.