The exhibition "Big Stars of Bollywood" kicks off at the museum today
Indian cinema reveals its secrets in the hospitality of «Louvre Abu Dhabi»
The exhibition features extracts from more than 30 films and more than 80 artworks, photographs and textiles.
Photography: Eric Arazas
picture
Cinema is not just a means of entertainment and enjoyment, but it is the memory of its society, and a window on its history, present issues, and future aspirations. Louvre Abu Dhabi is the “Big Stars of Bollywood: The World of Indian Cinema” exhibition, which opens its doors to the public today, and continues until the fourth of next June, on the sidelines of its cultural season for the year 2022-2023.
Through excerpts from more than 30 films and more than 80 artworks, including photographs, textiles and graphic arts, the exhibition, organized in partnership with the Musée du Branly - Jacques Chirac and the Fondation Musées de France, chronicles the history of Indian cinema since its inception in the late 20th century. The 19th so far, which contributes to introducing visitors to the elements of success that it has achieved globally.
It reveals how India was a pioneer in using the latest new image technologies after its invention, such as lithography and photography.
And he reviews the journey of filmmaking, starting from the emergence of the first works to its musical features, as India knew the moving pictures in 1896, that is, one year after the Lumiere brothers broadcast their first shows in Paris, after which India went to produce its own cinema, inspired by its performing arts. And its myths, and continued its development throughout the past century until it is today the largest in the world, as it produces more than 2000 films annually.
golden age
The exhibition also sheds light on the diversity of Indian cinematography, and the history of Indian cinema, in terms of storytelling, dance, and the pre-cinema stage, passing through other influences, all the way to the stage of the rise of major Bollywood stars, and shows how cinema in the beginnings overlapped with folk arts and shadow theater. Films were inspired by legends, and were shown in mobile cinemas from one village to another.
Beginning in 1900, distributors, projection machine operators, and agents flocked to India, bringing with them local and foreign film tapes, which paved the way for the growth of this industry, and its ambition to become a mass phenomenon along the lines of the American “Hollywood” model emerging at the time.
The exhibition also stops before the golden age of Indian cinema, from 1940 to 1960, which broke out following the collapse of the major studios in the forties of the last century, and the emergence of brilliant directors, such as Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy and Mahbub Khan.
It also witnessed the rise of new stars, and during that period the concept of making stars, which is based on an integrated system, was born.
Business
It includes "Big Bollywood Stars", a group of artworks that were divided into sections that trace the history of the development of Indian cinema, including a selection of the Louvre Abu Dhabi's collections, including a page from the Harivamsha series: Krishna and his entourage on the seashore in Bandaraka (circa 1820, Kangra, India). , a zebrafish and plate armor called the “Four Mirrors” shield (circa 1600–1800, Mughal Empire, India), and Krishna surrounded by cowgirls (circa 1655, Rajasthan, India).
Some of the works on loan from the partner museums include a statuette of a child Krishna playing the flute (second half of the 19th century, Rajasthan, India) loaned from the Musée du K Branly - Jacques Chirac, a dagger (late 17th century, Kuwait) from the Al-Sabah Collection, and an Indian shield (18th century) from the Military Museum, and a coat (19th century) from the National Museum of Asian Art - Gimé.
For his part, Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi Manuel Rabaté, at the beginning of the media tour organized yesterday morning at the exhibition, expressed his happiness at hosting the exhibition that explores the history of cinema, which was coordinated by Julien Rousseau, Head of the Asian Collections Department at the K Branly Museum - Jacques Chirac, in cooperation With Helen Kissous, who holds a PhD in Anthropology and Ethnology from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, and with the support of Dr. Suraya Noujaim, Director of Collections, Curators and Scientific Research at Louvre Abu Dhabi.
He pointed out that the exhibition does not only address the Indian audience, but also movie lovers of all nationalities, pointing to the extent of appreciation enjoyed by movie stars in India from their society, whether as cinematic figures appearing on the screen or as public figures outside the cinema.
• 2000 films produced annually by Indian cinema, to emerge today as the world's largest in this industry.
• Through excerpts from 30 films and 80 works, including photographs and textiles, the exhibition recounts stations in the history of Indian cinema since its inception.
Manuel Rabate:
• "The exhibition does not only address the Indian audience, but also cinema lovers of all nationalities."
"Kings" and owners of fingerprints
The exhibition “Big Stars of Bollywood: The World of Indian Cinema” at the Louvre Abu Dhabi presents many famous movie excerpts that left a prominent mark in the history of Indian cinema, its promotional posters, and an introduction to the kings of cinema in India in its successive stages, such as Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Silk Smita, Zeenat Aman, Kamal Hassan, SRK, Vikram, Kajol, Salman Khan, Eshwari Rai, Amir Khan, Jepka Padukone and more.
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