Aliança Wines of Portugal, in Sangalhos opened a new space for
the latest exhibit India- Myth, Sensuality and Fiction.
The collection ?India ? Myth, Sensuality and
Fiction?, which has previously been shown at the Sintra Museum of Modern
Art, tells the story of these three subjects and how they derive
origins from India.
The first part of the exhibition represents a photo biography of Mahatma
Gandhi (Porbandar, 1869-1948) titled: "A minha vida é a minha mensagem" (My life is my message). This is an unprecedented exhibition about the
peaceful leader, considered to be the father of India. The piece is made
up of around 60 photos selected from 25,000 in the archives of Gandhi?s
nephew Kanu Gandhi and his biographer Vithalbhai K. Jhaveri de Mumbai.
The criteria for the selection were to cover the ideas, values and
causes that Gandhi defended throughout his life. These include honesty,
passiveness (Satyagraha), vegetarianism, sobriety, humility and
resistance to materialism.
The second part of the exhibit shows a more modern India through a
family of artists: Umrao Singh Sher-Gil, Amrita Sher-Gil, Vivan Sundaram
and Navina Sundaram.
"This is the story of an Indian family of artists, over three
generations, making the link between the oil paintings of Amrita
Sher-Gil, a key figure of modern art in India, and the innovative and
magnificent photographs of his father, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil, considered
by many the founder of modern Indian photography. Their work is brought
together with the photomontages and works of Vivan Sundaram, nephew of
Amrita, grandson of Umrao and one of the best artists of the Indian
contemporary art scene."
The third part, belonging to the Berardo Collection, is composed of
decorative Indian antiques, with reference to Hinduism, religious and
popular imagery (small statues, reliefs done in wood) and a series of 60
unpublished photographs by Juan Bécquer taken in the 50?s and 60?s that
portray the mythical and monumental side of India.