Picturing America, an exhibition of photographs at The Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata, opened on August 13, 2010. The exhibition may be considered an insight into the aspirations of a country that even in its worst days continues to offer the vision of a ‘promised land’ to a large section of India and the world. The exhibition has been organised by the US State Department, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington DC. The exhibition is on for one week and features photographs that span several centuries, covering art, craft, sculpture, photography and architecture, chosen for their significant representations of the country and its people.

Another photography exhibition, which is on at the Birla Academy in Kolkata is by photographer Veer Munshi. Curated by Ranjit Hoskote, the exhibition titled Shrapnel + Pandit Houses, sponsored by Foundation B&G is well worth a visit before it closes on August 25th. The show could hardly have been better timed, with the outbreak of violence in the Kashmir valley, the plight of Kashmiri Pandits needs to be given its fair share of space. The images captured by Veer Munshi, show the homes of Kashmiri Pandits, “studded with shrapnel standing silently in ominous stillness”. Through his emotive photography, Veer tries to advocate “that it would be a folly to loose faith in humanity.” Besides the emotional appeal of the subject, the exhibition is also worth seeing for Veer Munshi’s sensitive photography of some really beautiful houses. One hopes that in the future, these empty homes would be restored to their former glory and families who had lived there for generations, would be able to return and live peacefully in their ancestral homes.

I am not sure how many people are aware of a unique private museum located in central Kolkata, which periodically exhibits a selection of 40 art works from the personal collection of SD Ahuja. Obviously a very enthusiastic collector, Ahuja acquired a collection of 1200 works from around the world, mainly Indian and Asian art. The Ahuja Museum for Arts is strictly non – commercial and puts on exhibitions every month, usually featuring about 40 works by different artists. These groups are clubbed together by seniority, style or region.

There are also solo shows held for international artistes, such as the work of Stephane Delapree, in January 2010, which had intriguingly been mentioned as a blend of French, Cambodian and Canadian art. In March there was also a solo exhibition by Antonio Zapata, an artist from Colombia.

The Ahuja Museum held two exhibitions of works by young Indian Artists (one devoted to painters from Bengal) in February and May. In July, it featured an important show of Indian Masters from Bengal. The present show Asian Art II, which opened on August 2nd, will be on till September 30th and includes some outstanding works by Asian artists.

The works of Michael Tan of Malaysia, Siripon Sanjan of Thailand, Tay Bak Koi from Singapore and Bangladesh’s Abdus Shakoor, deserve special mention. The Ahuja Museum’s effort remains important as it is privately funded and brings a whole range of art to the public eye without any commercial tag attached.