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India Today
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
Why the Bihar Museum Biennale matters for cultural diplomacy, South-South solidarity
The grand hall of the Bihar Museum in Patna, on a humid August evening, thrummed with an energy that was equal parts ceremony and quiet anticipation. It was here that the third edition of the Bihar Museum Biennale opened its doors to the world—an event whose reach now extends from the Ganga plains to the far edges of the Indian Ocean and chief minister Nitish Kumar, on August 7, unveiled the Biennale's emblem—a stylised Tree of Life—it marked the reawakening of a vibrant Bihar: the ancient capital of wisdom now a powerhouse of culture, reaching out to embrace the global arts community and offering a platform for shared emblem's design fuses the sturdy trunk of the African baobab, the sacred peepal foliage of Asia and the vibrant biodiversity of South America rendered in Otomi and Lliclla textile motifs. More than a mere logo, it is a manifesto of interconnectedness—rooted in the Global South's shared mythologies, belief systems and artistic Bihar Museum itself—and, by extension, the Biennale—was the brainchild of Nitish, part of his broader vision for Bihar's cultural renaissance. From its earliest conception, he imagined not just a repository of artefacts but a living institution, one that would safeguard the state's archaeological treasures while also situating Bihar within a global conversation on heritage and identity. Today, the museum stands as a shining emblem of Bihar's cultural reawakening, a place where the past converses fluently with the present. This edition of the Biennale, titled 'Global South: Sharing Histories', expands its reach beyond India's borders to encompass eight other nations: Sri Lanka, Mexico, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Peru, Argentina, Kazakhstan and Ecuador. It builds upon the legacy of its earlier editions. The inaugural, in 2021, was conducted entirely online due to the Covid pandemic restrictions, with the theme 'Bihar, India and the World: Connecting People, Connecting Cultures In Changing Times'. Even then, it brought together some of India's most respected institutions, from the Assam State Museum to the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in New Delhi. The second edition in 2023 was the first fully on-site Biennale, drawing participants from over 15 countries and incorporating the G20 art exhibition Together We in its third incarnation in 2025, the Biennale deliberately pivots towards the Global South, connecting histories and collections across Africa, South America and Asia. Its curatorial ambition is to trace the networks—maritime, cultural and intellectual—that have historically bound these regions. Through aesthetics, mythologies, indigenous and contemporary art forms, crafts, belief systems and performing arts, the Biennale seeks to weave together narratives that celebrate both shared heritage and rich opening day unfolded as a choreography of formalities and encounters. Nitish, after unveiling the emblem, symbolically cut the ribbon to inaugurate the temporary exhibitions. These ranged across themes as varied as festivals and performances, symbolism and celebration, initiation ceremonies, archaeological excavations, beauty and aesthetics, and wellness from participating countries mingled with curators, visitors and artists, while Bihar Museum director general Anjani Kumar Singh guided dignitaries through the galleries, elaborating on each display's significance and its place within the Biennale's thematic a former IAS officer who has served as Bihar chief secretary in the past, described the Bihar Museum Biennale as a celebration of awakening—a place where cultures meet, converse and recognise one another's splendour. 'It invites the world to step inside and feel the depth, grace and resilience of human creativity. Here, museums are not silent halls but vibrant forums, where curators and thinkers share challenges, trade ideas, and imagine solutions, so that our shared heritage can continue to light the way forward,' said the exhibition spaces, each country's contribution told a distinct story. Sri Lanka's presentation explored the interplay of identity, beauty and struggle through contemporary artworks. Mexico offered a dual perspective—Maya-inspired visual pieces from artist Eva Malhotra and a collection of pre-Hispanic artefacts, textiles and photographs that evoked the country's diverse cultural layers. Indonesia's Bridge of Civilisations celebrated the enduring connections between the archipelago and India, from shared Sanskrit vocabulary to parallel epic traditions. Ethiopia's Mihiretu Wassie constructed hypnotic narratives from buttons and leather, drawing on the textures of traditional premier Indian cultural institutions also anchored the programme. The ICCR's (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) Vishwaroop Ram: The Universal Legacy of the Ramayana assembled artefacts, traditions and performances from 20 countries, revealing how the ancient epic travelled across oceans and languages, shaping moral codes, art forms and communal memory from Bali to the Caribbean. The NGMA's Our Worlds and Ourselves explored identity and solidarity across the so-called periphery while the IGNCA's (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts ) Spiritual Crossing delved into the significance of masks and the symbolic, performative and ritualistic dimensions of this age-old art form.A day before the event unlocked a cultural door, the city itself became part of the Biennale through a heritage walk that stitched together Bihar Museum, Buddha Smriti Park and Patna Museum. This was more than a tour; it was a gentle reminder that cultural heritage is not confined to vitrines but lives in streets, courtyards and shared calendar of exhibitions stretches over the coming months, ensuring that the Biennale is less a passing event than a sustained cultural season. September will bring Argentina's photographic journey through the lens of Pablo Katlirevsky and a retrospective of Patna Kalam painting—one of the earliest art traditions to place everyday life on will see Peru's textiles and pre-Inca ceramics alongside Kazakhstan's deep historical survey of power and nomadic culture. November will open with Home in a Space Left Behind, reflecting on diaspora and memory, and Ecuador's Origin of Cacao, tracing the crop's 5,500-year journey from Amazonian domestication to global commodity. From November 7 to December 31, the Mehrangarh Museum Trust will present Shakti—The Supreme Goddess, a miniature-painting tribute to the Divine Feminine in her many parallel to the exhibitions are the Biennale's discursive and performative programmes. In early August, two days of seminars brought together scholars, artists and curators to discuss subjects as varied as music as a vessel for migration and resistance, the political and sacred dimensions of masks, gender and power in sacred art, and the architectural embodiments of Biennale is not without its symbolism. To convene such an event in Patna—a city that has long wrestled with the weight of its ancient past and the unevenness of its modern growth—is to assert that Bihar's cultural capital is not a relic but a living, dynamic force. The museum, in its architectural grace and curatorial ambition, signals a confidence in the state's ability to host and shape international cultural its inception as Nitish's vision, the Bihar Museum Biennale has grown into a rare platform for cultural diplomacy, interdisciplinary exploration and South-South solidarity. It asks visitors to see beyond political borders, to recognise in a Sri Lankan mask or a Peruvian textile not just an artefact but a thread in a larger weave of human creativity and the exhibitions and conversations unfold over the next five months, the Biennale will continue to draw in artists, scholars, students and the simply curious. Beneath the metaphorical branches of its Tree of Life, it offers a space where narratives of trade, devotion, migration and resistance intertwine—rooted in Bihar's soil, yet reaching out across oceans. In this, the Biennale embodies exactly what its founder imagined: a museum, and a state, not content to merely preserve the past but determined to participate in shaping the cultural conversations of the to India Today Magazine- Ends
Time of India
07-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Noonmati-Ambari flyover's work in progress amid delays, tree-transplant row
1 2 Guwahati: Construction of the Noonmati-Ambari flyover has reached 48% completion, according to the Assam public works department (PWD). The progress update has come after chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's announcement on Sunday that the Rs 800-crore project is expected to be completed ahead of next year's Bohag Bihu. PWD (roads) chief engineer Sanjeev Shyam on Monday said pillars have been erected in Bamunimaidam and Chandmari areas. However, he said work on the Ambari-end faced initial delays due to challenges related to tree felling and the redesign of the stretch between Guwahati Rotary and Dighalipukhuri. "These issues had caused considerable delays in initiating the work on that segment. With all necessary clearances now in place, we hope to begin work on it immediately," Shyam said. The PWD had undertaken late-night operations to relocate age-old trees with support from a Delhi-based consultant. However, after concerns were raised about the unscientific methods being used, two persons — Mahesh Deka and Jayanta Gogoi — filed a petition before the Gauhati high court last month, demanding that tree transplantation be monitored by an appointed officer. Authorities have since assured that 23 mature trees near the Assam State Museum will remain untouched. Shyam said drainage construction is ongoing along the GNB Road stretch. "Once that work is complete, we will coordinate with the traffic police to divert traffic through a new alignment, starting from the Burha Jame Masjid-end in Ambari," he added. Meanwhile, piling operations for the bridge's structure — critical to the flyover's structural stability — are scheduled to begin by Aug end.
Time of India
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Petition filed in HC against transplantation of 23 trees
Guwahati: A petition was filed before the Gauhati high court against the govt's alleged attempt to transplant 23 mature trees from a land opposite the Dighalipukhuri pond. The petitioners, Mahesh Deka and Jayanta Gogoi, said in the petition that the transplantation of the trees in the Ambari and Dighalipukhuri area requires monitoring by an appointed tree officer. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Advocate general D Saikia submitted before the court of Chief Justice (Acting) Lanusungkum Jamir and Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak that based on telephonic instructions from the executive engineer concerned, the 23 mature trees located in and around the Assam State Museum, opposite the Dighalipukhuri pond, would not be touched in view of the re-alignment design. He also submitted that he would file an affidavit showing the status of the translocated trees along with photographs. The court has listed the case for the next hearing on July 22. The petitioner, Mahesh Deka, last year approached the court by filing a PIL alleging that the state govt decided to construct two arms of the GNB flyover, which is under construction, on the Taybullah Road and West Dighalipukhuri Road, which would require the felling of several centenarian trees. In Oct-Nov last year, hundreds of people staged a series of protests against the govt's plan to fell the trees for the construction of the flyover. Following the demonstrations, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that certain modifications to the design and length of the Ambari-Noonmati flyover were made to preserve the tree cover at Dighalipukhuri. He confirmed that the trees would neither be felled nor transplanted. The GNB flyover connecting Ambari with Noonmati is being constructed at a cost of Rs 852 crore.
Time of India
10-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Bring the periphery to the centre
It was the final day of the week-long Rongali Bihu celebrations to mark the beginning of the Assamese new year and sowing season. Guwahati was dressed in festive finery, with vibrant japis (hats) and gamosas (white-and-red handwoven fabric) adorning every pause and turn. Assam State Museum was celebrating its 86th Foundation Day, recalling the contributions of many, especially Rai Bahadur Kanak Lal Barua, who had spent their lives collecting, documenting, and disseminating the tangible and intangible heritage of the people of Assam. #Operation Sindoor India-Pakistan Clash Live Updates| Pak moving troops to border areas? All that's happening Why India chose to abstain instead of 'No Vote' against IMF billion-dollar funding to Pakistan How Pak's jihadi general Munir became trapped in his own vice An invitation to Guwahati in end- April felt like being in the right place at the right time. Earning one's pitha (rice cake) and laru (a sweet) by speaking on the sculptural heritage of Assam to an august assembly can be daunting. But delectable larus and the beauty of Assamese sculptures make for a heady combination that can embolden an art historian to let her thoughts flow with the Brahmaputra. The Brahmaputra valley is a connected-yet-distinct geographical space nestled within the eastern Himalayas, Patkai, and Naga hills, and the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia and Mikir hills. Its natural beauty finds mention even in ancient inscriptions that extol its golden hills in the likeness of Kailash, with gushing waters of the grand Lauhitya River resembling the silvery rays of the moon. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Moose Approaches Girl At Bus Stop In Bouira - Watch What Happens Happy in Shape Brahmaputra, lifeline of the valley, is known by 'Lauhitya' in some early inscriptions and texts. The ancient name of Assam best corresponds to Kamarupa in some historical records, such as Samudragupta's famous Allahabad pillar inscription, and Kautilya's Arthashastra. The other name, Pragjyotisha, of the epics and epigraphs, also included territories corresponding to ancient Assam . Assam's remote antiquity goes back to the Stone Age. But written records in the form of inscriptions begin to offer insights into its early history only from 4th c. CE. Substantial art and architectural remains in stone have survived from 6th c. CE, most notably, a grand temple doorway at Da Parbatia in the Tezpur-Sonitpur region (photo). Live Events Often explained in terms of a 'Gupta art'-inspired door frame, its own localised aesthetics have remained unsung. The personified river goddesses, Ganga and Yamuna, are conceptually aligned with 'Gupta' temple doorframes. But their iconography and stylistics at Da Parbatia reveal refined local artistic sensibilities. The presence of Lakulisha on the door lintel and, beneath him, a majestic garuda (eagle) in combat with nagas (serpents) is distinctively rendered, even if a coin of Gupta king Skandagupta Kramaditya reveals similar iconography. That ancient Kamarupa was connected with the great Gupta empire of central India is well-known. In the Allahabad pillar inscription, the king of Kamarupa is addressed as a 'pratyanta nripati' (frontier king). But even if Kamarupa was peripheral to the Gupta empire, centre and periphery are relative to one's vantage point. In its regional interactions with eastern Indian kingdoms too, from the time of King Shashanka of Gauda (circa early 7th c.) to the Palas of Bengal and Bihar (c. 8th-12th c.), Assam's contributions to regional, national, and Asian histories have remained underrepresented, if not eclipsed. It is a truism to say that West Bengal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Assam and Northeast Indian states formed culturally contiguous zones of contact with shifting political boundaries before the establishment of modern nation-states sharply segregated their identities. Perhaps less obvious is how such shared pasts are sculpted in stone. The artistic imagination of a multi-armed dancing Shiva (Nritteshvara) astride Vrishabha-Nandi (bull) is an east-northeast Indian creative innovation that had travelled to neighbouring and distant lands as far as Champa in ancient Vietnam. Perhaps nowhere is he as evocatively visualised as in a large 10th c. stone roundel housed in the Assam State Museum at Guwahati (photo). The northeast and its artistic achievements deserve to be relocated from the periphery to the centre. It's high time. The writer is professor of art history, Department of History, University of Delhi
Economic Times
10-05-2025
- Economic Times
Bring the periphery to the centre
It was the final day of the week-long Rongali Bihu celebrations to mark the beginning of the Assamese new year and sowing season. Guwahati was dressed in festive finery, with vibrant japis (hats) and gamosas (white-and-red handwoven fabric) adorning every pause and turn. Assam State Museum was celebrating its 86th Foundation Day, recalling the contributions of many, especially Rai Bahadur Kanak Lal Barua, who had spent their lives collecting, documenting, and disseminating the tangible and intangible heritage of the people of invitation to Guwahati in end- April felt like being in the right place at the right time. Earning one's pitha (rice cake) and laru (a sweet) by speaking on the sculptural heritage of Assam to an august assembly can be daunting. But delectable larus and the beauty of Assamese sculptures make for a heady combination that can embolden an art historian to let her thoughts flow with the Brahmaputra. The Brahmaputra valley is a connected-yet-distinct geographical space nestled within the eastern Himalayas, Patkai, and Naga hills, and the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia and Mikir hills. Its natural beauty finds mention even in ancient inscriptions that extol its golden hills in the likeness of Kailash, with gushing waters of the grand Lauhitya River resembling the silvery rays of the moon. Brahmaputra, lifeline of the valley, is known by 'Lauhitya' in some early inscriptions and texts. The ancient name of Assam best corresponds to Kamarupa in some historical records, such as Samudragupta's famous Allahabad pillar inscription, and Kautilya's Arthashastra. The other name, Pragjyotisha, of the epics and epigraphs, also included territories corresponding to ancient Assam. Assam's remote antiquity goes back to the Stone Age. But written records in the form of inscriptions begin to offer insights into its early history only from 4th c. CE. Substantial art and architectural remains in stone have survived from 6th c. CE, most notably, a grand temple doorway at Da Parbatia in the Tezpur-Sonitpur region (photo). Often explained in terms of a 'Gupta art'-inspired door frame, its own localised aesthetics have remained unsung. The personified river goddesses, Ganga and Yamuna, are conceptually aligned with 'Gupta' temple doorframes. But their iconography and stylistics at Da Parbatia reveal refined local artistic sensibilities. The presence of Lakulisha on the door lintel and, beneath him, a majestic garuda (eagle) in combat with nagas (serpents) is distinctively rendered, even if a coin of Gupta king Skandagupta Kramaditya reveals similar iconography. That ancient Kamarupa was connected with the great Gupta empire of central India is well-known. In the Allahabad pillar inscription, the king of Kamarupa is addressed as a 'pratyanta nripati' (frontier king). But even if Kamarupa was peripheral to the Gupta empire, centre and periphery are relative to one's vantage point. In its regional interactions with eastern Indian kingdoms too, from the time of King Shashanka of Gauda (circa early 7th c.) to the Palas of Bengal and Bihar (c. 8th-12th c.), Assam's contributions to regional, national, and Asian histories have remained underrepresented, if not eclipsed. It is a truism to say that West Bengal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Assam and Northeast Indian states formed culturally contiguous zones of contact with shifting political boundaries before the establishment of modern nation-states sharply segregated their identities. Perhaps less obvious is how such shared pasts are sculpted in stone. The artistic imagination of a multi-armed dancing Shiva (Nritteshvara) astride Vrishabha-Nandi (bull) is an east-northeast Indian creative innovation that had travelled to neighbouring and distant lands as far as Champa in ancient Vietnam. Perhaps nowhere is he as evocatively visualised as in a large 10th c. stone roundel housed in the Assam State Museum at Guwahati (photo). The northeast and its artistic achievements deserve to be relocated from the periphery to the centre. It's high time. The writer is professor of art history, Department of History, University of Delhi
