Discover what is being said about the British Museum’s latest exhibition that explores the origins of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist sacred art.
The Guardian: ***** “This is an exhibition with a true sense of mystery. Not just in the atmospheric way it is lit with coloured misty veils separating displays, or even the marvels you encounter such as a nagini snake goddess floating in the shadows – but in the way it worships life.”
The Standard: ***** ” Ancient India: Living Traditions is a very respectful and carefully managed show of religious art by the British Museum in which, quite honestly, the stirring charisma of the holy beings it celebrates is enough to bring even your most secular of Londoners to worshipful awe.”
The Telegraph: ** “Academic point-scoring over long-dead excavators turns a potentially grand narrative into a series of inside-baseball footnotes.”
The Upcoming: ***** “This captivating display marks the first time early Indian sacred art has been explored through a global perspective. Drawing from the Museum’s South Asian collection, alongside national and international loans, it brings together over two thousand years of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religious imagery. The exhibition reveals how these ancient religions have shaped both spiritual and artistic traditions, with sacred art veneration enduring in devotional practices to this day.”
The FT: “Ancient India makes much of the parallels and similarities between the three belief systems; the theological, ritualistic and sociopolitical differences between Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism are passed over so silently that a visitor might read this exhibition as one that is emphasising the cultural unity of the Indian subcontinent rather than a discourse on how these faiths emerged, evolved, interacted and competed with each other. Here, the three religions are treated as coherent and timeless “living traditions” that closely resemble those of many millennia ago.”
Ancient India: Living Traditions is on display until the 19th October.