bauhaus imaginista

Indian Museum, Ministry of Culture, Government of India and the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata is coming up with an exhibition showcasing the visual archive of collected research from bauhaus imaginista (2016 – 2019), a major project focusing on the international reception of the Bauhaus, to mark the school’s centenary alongside a newly commissioned architectural installation by the artist Sanchayan Ghosh who has been invited to respond to this archive and connect it to the setting of the India Museum and to its collection.

bauhaus imaginista opened up a transnational perspective on the history of modernist art and design—a history marked by war and dictatorship, the Cold War, the non-aligned movement and independence movements that erupted across the developing world, and, finally, the mid-twentieth century’s unrestricted promise of modernization. The exhibition relooks at a shared language of modernity between India and Europe despite their different backgrounds.

Central to the installation is a computer terminal where visitors can browse the bauhaus imaginista online journal and print out visual and textual material to compile in the folders provided. A separate film programme features newly com­missioned works on Bauhaus themes and histories by contemporary artists and researchers Zvi Efrat, Kader Attia, the Otolith Group and Wendelien van Oldenborgh.

A new installation by Sanchayan Ghosh featuring sculptural forms designed to frame the bauhaus imaginista archive, respond to the space of the museum, as well as echo architectural structures found in paintings by both Gaganendranath Tagore and Rabindranath Tagore along with archival images of Tagore's Santiniketan and Paul Klee.

We present you with an array of interesting online programmes between September and October 2021 as a prelude to the exhibition. The programmes will feature internationally renowned experts conversing and discussing about a variety of related topics to deepen your insights about the concept.