15 September – 27 October 2020
Project description
The Bagri Foundation is excited to launch this new digital series which invites curators from museums across the world to share stories about works from their Asian collections. During an unprecedented time of museum shutdowns, and an increase in digital engagement, the Foundation team found themselves roaming galleries virtually, but with little to no interpretation. With over 90% of objects in museum collections in the UK not even on display, the aim of Object, Story, Wonder is to reveal those that perhaps would have no other way of being seen.
To preserve the memories of objects is one of the foremost reasons that collections exist, and curators have been unable to tell the tales of these artworks during this recent time of closure. With digital access at an all-time high, but travel highly restricted, it is the intention of the Foundation, in collaboration with like-minded international museums, to bring fantastic Asian art and culture to your screens and to delight in the wonder that makes up these artefacts, sculptures, prints, paintings and more. Weekly from 15 September 2020, we present the perspective of curators who love these works and personally selected them. Their intention is to make them more accessible and learn about a range of exciting, hidden gems.
New videos will be released each Tuesday afternoon on our Youtube channel and all socials. With the kind contribution of Dr Imma Ramos, Curator of South Asia (British Museum), Dr Mallica Kumbera Landrus, Keeper of Eastern Art and Curator of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art (Ashmolean Museum), Joan Cummins, Lisa And Bernard Selz Senior Curator, Asian Art, (Brooklyn Museum), Dr Marika Sardar, Curator (Aga Khan Museum), Emily Hannam and Rachel Peat (Royal Collection Trust) and Dr Malini Roy (British Library).
Image: Head of a Guardian, Japan, 13th century. Hinoki wood with lacquer on cloth, pigment, rock crystal, metal, 221/16 x 10 1/4 x 13 15/16 (56.0 x 26.0 x 35.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alastair B. Martin, the Guennol Collection.
