Aparna Andhare

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA will research towards the creation of an exhibition and a catalogue essay centred on a select few objects from the Silver collection at Zapurza Museum of Art and Culture (ZMAC) in Pune, Maharashtra. This project will undertake a close study of silver objects that were used in the domestic space and explore such objects made in silver for their craftsmanship, context(s), iconography, use, and techniques. ZMAC, situated on the banks of Khadakwasla Dam in Pune, Maharashtra, is a not-for-profit art initiative under PN Gadgil Art and Culture Foundation led by Mr Ajit Gadgil. Borne out of Mr Gadgil’s personal collection, ZMAC has objects ranging from rare pieces of jewellery, paintings by traditional and contemporary artists, textiles, lithograph prints by Raja Ravi Varma, a collection of miniature paintings, and various kinds of manuscripts, everyday objects and a diverse range of ephemera. Aparna Andhare is the Project Coordinator for this project.

Aparna Andhare is an independent curator, writer and art historian. She was a curator at Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, City Palace, Jaipur from 2017 to 2021. Aparna has considerable experience in collection management, documentation of paintings; working on interpretation and developing a range of tactile aids, in collaboration with local design students. In addition to this, she has independently contributed to platforms like Rereeti, Sahapedia, and Live History India. In the recent past, as an art writer, Aparna has written a catalogue essay for Meet me in the Garden, a solo show by WOLF, at Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai (2023). She has a diploma in Indian Aesthetics; Art Criticism and Theory, Jnanpravaha, Mumbai, 2014, MA in Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, 2012 and studied Art in the Global Middle Ages at Attingham Trust’s Summer School in University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Given her rich experience in the field of museum and curation, Aparna is best suited to be the Project Coordinator for this Foundation Project implemented by IFA.

This Foundation Project will conduct research to unfold narratives around silver objects that entered the domestic space of consumption. An exhibition anchoring these objects at the intersections of gender, domesticity, consumption patterns, patronage and styles of manufacturing will be curated. Using a silver bhatukali – a miniature kitchen set – on display at ZMAC, as an entry point into questions about gender, childhood, and the domestic sphere, the Project Coordinator will bring into her research other objects from the collection like gulaabdani (rose-water sprinklers), lamps, paan-daan (betel-leaf boxes), tea service sets, and cutleries from the collection. Aparna will also refer to collections of silver objects in museums like Salar Jung Museum, and Jagdish and Kamala Mittal Museum in Hyderabad, Museum of Christian Art in Goa, Amrapali Museum and Gyan Museum in Jaipur, and City Palace Museum in Jaipur and Udaipur. The study of collections across the museums will enable the Project Coordinator to address certain key questions like: what were patrons buying for personal use, and why; where were these objects mostly manufactured and what techniques were employed. It will facilitate an exploration into older methods of production, comparison to contemporary techniques; motifs and decoration; mapping the change in objects being used and collected; the influence of Europe on domestic spaces in an elite Indian household and how consumption and requirements of women informed the production of objects in silver beyond jewellery. This extensive research will be essential for Aparna to create a detailed scenography for the exhibition.

In order to encourage an intimate engagement with the material, and an organic exploration of themes, for the exhibition, Aparna proposes to turn a gallery into an early 20th century “home” of an elite collector, hoping that the visitor encounters each object in the context of use, and has an immersive experience where the objects are no more inert but is felt along with tactile experiences of smell and sound. The exhibition will also be accompanied with a catalogue, where the Project Coordinator will feature interviews of craftsmen and a note on conservation of the collection. Keeping in mind the programmatic impulse of the Archives and Museums programme, Aparna will organise a lecture-demonstration of techniques of manufacturing, a workshop and seminar on material culture with a focus on silverware in domestic spaces, involving scholars, collectors, and crafts-persons. In addition to this, activities will be organised focusing on accessibility for visitors with visual and cognitive challenges, through creation of multi-sensorial experiences around the objects.

Aparna has divided the project into phases of fieldwork, research analysis of secondary sources, writing and installation of the exhibition. The public programmes in collaboration with the museum would run once the exhibition is on display.

The outcomes of this project will be an exhibition plan and curatorial inputs, catalogue essay and object notes to accompany the exhibition, detailed research notes and bibliography, an online or hybrid seminar, training modules for museum staff and prototype and plans for on-site activities.

The Project Coordinator’s final deliverables to IFA along with the final reports will be the photographs and curatorial notes of the exhibition, detailed research notes and bibliography, draft of the catalogue essay, the proceedings and audio-visual recordings of the seminar, and drafts of the plan and prototype for onsite activities at the museums.

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees. 

This project is made possible with support from Tata Trusts, with the corpus interest of an earlier seed grant.