On 25 September 2018, Durjoy Bangladesh announced the donation of a major installation by artist Mithu Sen to the Kunstmuseum Wolfburg in Germany during a special event inviting local and international guests at the Kunstmuseum Wolfburg. Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg is cultural beacon situated in the Lower Saxony of Wolfsburg, one-hour from Berlin, and a privately-sponsored art museum.
The donation of Mithu Sen was made on the occasion of the exhibition ‘Facing India’ featuring six influential women artists from India for the first time brought together in a group exhibition in Germany. The exhibition is organized by Director Ralf Beil and Uta Ruhkamp, curator of the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. The exhibition examines national, social, and political boundaries that confine equality and impose restrictions on pluralism in society.
Mithu Sen’s installation MOU (Museum of Unbelongings) is a vernacular archive of cultural and personal memory that cannot be historicized or turned into museum object – at least, not without considering fetishes of historicizing. As Mithu Sen has commented: ‘The installation marks a symbolic archive of impermanence and unbelonging that provides ways of imagining the world and its transient futures.’
Founder of Durjoy Bangladesh foundation, Mr. Durjoy Rahman, spoke at the event marking the donation how; ‘Mithu Sen’s work to the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg marks one important step in supporting initiatives that generate deeper understanding and appreciation for art and artists from South Asia and beyond.’
Dr. Ralf Beil, Director of Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg spoke about the success of the exhibition Facing India and how ‘the donation of the Mithu Sen’s work MOU (Museum of Unbelongings) marks a prominent donation to support the global character and focus of the museum, also leading towards the 25th anniversary of the Kuntmuseum Wolfsburg, next year, in 2019.
“It is extraordinary in every respect that a collector from the other side of the globe would fulfil this heartfelt wish and, with his donation, ensure that the important thematic exhibition Facing India is now also firmly anchored in the collection, Ralf Beil states regards to the donation.”
Amongst the distinguished guests attending the event was Ms. Shireen Gandhy Director of Gallery Chemould in Mumbai, which has played a significant role in the development of India’s modern and contemporary art since its founding in 1963.
Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation advisors and Board members Ms. Marta Gnyp and Dr. Thomas Berghuis were also present.
MOU (Museum of Unbelongings) was first exhibited in 2011 in New Delhi and again in 2013 at the Chermould Gallery in Mumbai, in an exhibition curated by Geeta Kapur. A version of the work was prominently featured at the exhibition ‘After Midnight: Indian Modernism To Contemporary India 1947/1997’ in 2015 at the Queens Museum in New York, curated by Dr. Arshiya Lokhandwala.
Art critic and Asian art specialist Holland Cotter wrote in his review of the exhibition for the New York Times, how Mithu Sen’s installation MOU (Museum of Unbelongings) II connects both the ‘sensuous and sacred’. In 2016, a version of MOU (Museum of Unbelongings) was also shown at the ‘Unlimited’ section of Art Basel, curated by Gianni Jetzer.
With the donation of MOU (Museum of Unbelongings), 2018 by Durjoy Bangladesh foundation to the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, audiences in Germany will have an archive of impermanence that can be activated each time it is exhibited.
Mithu Sen was born 1971 in West Bengal and lives and works in New Delhi, India. Mithu Sen obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in painting from the Kala Bhavan visual arts institute and fine arts faculty of the Visva-Bharati University in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, established by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. After receiving the prestigious Charles Wallace India Trust Award in 2000, she completed the post-graduate program at the Glasgow School of Art, United Kingdom, in 2001. Mithu Sen is well known for her paintings, drawings, installation and performance work, often juxtaposing semiotic principles in art.For further information, visit: mithusen.com
Durjoy Bangladesh is a non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting art from South Asia and beyond. We support the ambitions of artists and art practitioners who see the world differently and who generate new ways of shaping our world and our future. Founded in 2018, Durjoy Bangladesh promotes artistic research and engagement. Durjoy Bangladesh foundation supports artists in creating new artworks, and artists and art practitioners to engage in relevant collections, exhibitions, publications and residencies worldwide. With offices in Dhaka and Berlin, Durjoy Bangladesh offers a conduit to connect art and artists between Asia, Europe, and beyond.
The Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg is a privately-sponsored museum supported by the non-profit Kunststiftung Volkswagen. The Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg was founded in 1994 with the support of funding provided by Volkswagen, the city of Wolfsburg and private donors. Since 1994, the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg has been collecting international contemporary art. A solid foundation was laid with key works from the field of Minimal Art, Conceptual Art and Arte Povera. Works by a younger generation of artists were subsequently added. For further information, visit: www.kunstmuseum-wolfsburg.de
‘Facing India’ opened on 29 April and will run until 7 October 2018 at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. ‘Facing India’ examines the question of how one’s own national history, present, and future is manifested though the works by six, female artists: Vibha Galhotra, Bharti Kher, Prajakta Potnis, Reena Saini Kallat, Mithu Sen, and Tejal Shah. They shift attention towards historical and contemporary conflicts. ‘Facing India’ was developed out of a continuing dialog with the artists and reflects a kind of collective plea for communication and the notion of unity in diversity beyond pigeonhole thinking and caste mentality. The exhibition architecture also incorporates these ideas. Each of the six artists has her own separate exhibition space, which are arranged to provide clear visual relations to each other. The center of the exhibition is an open communication forum, which allows the visitor a view in all directions — both literally and metaphorically. For further information, visit: www.kunstmuseum-wolfsburg.de
