The Inner Eye: Folk Art of India from the William and Ann Oppenhimer Collection September 19, 2007, to December 2, 2007 Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature University of Richmond Museums On view at the Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature from September 19 to December 2, 2007, The Inner Eye: Folk Art of India from the William and Ann Oppenhimer Collection features drawings of daily life in rural India by the family of Ganesh Jogi and Teju Ben as well as traditional painted scrolls by Montu and Joba Chitrakar. Ganesh and Teju, contemporary folk artists living in the northwestern province of Gujarat, are part of the Jogi caste, the members of which are employed to wake village residents in the morning by singing as they walk the streets. Both Ganesh and Teju are illiterate and had never held a pen prior to a chance encounter with Indian scholar and cultural anthropologist Haku Shah in the early 1980s when he encouraged them to begin drawing. Along with four of their children, the family continues today to create drawings that portray their personal interpretations of the world around them.
Also featured in the exhibition are traditional scrolls by Montu and Joba Chitrakar. Part of a large scroll painting community in Naya, a town in the east Indian province of West Bengal, Montu and Joba are members of a caste that has been involved for centuries in the art of making scrolls and traveling around the region to recite ancient Hindu narratives and stories of daily life depicted in their scrolls. In recent years, it has become difficult to make a living from this art form as radio and television have captured their conventional audience, thus the Chitrakars have begun selling their scrolls. Creating more scrolls for sale than ever before, Montu has started to incorporate elements of 21 st century life and current events into his scrolls, such the Asian tsunami in 2004. Organized by the University of Richmond Museums, the exhibition was co-curated by Richard Waller, Executive Director, University Museums, and Kristen Malanoski, '08, history and art history double major, University of Richmond, and 2007 Arts and Sciences summer research fellow in the University Museums. PROGRAMMING Lecture and Reception - Tuesday, September 18, 2007, 7 to 9 p.m. 7 p.m., Lecture, Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature "Seeing the Divine: Hindu Art and Ritual" Dina Bangdel, Assistant Professor of Art History, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 8 to 9 p.m., Reception and preview of The Inner Eye: Folk Art of India from the William and Ann Oppenhimer Collection and The Sacred and The Sensuous: Hindu Art from the Collection Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature, Boatwright Memorial Library Gallery Talk - Friday, September 28, 2007, 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. Curator's Talk, Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature, Boatwright Memorial Library "India: Tradition and Transformation" Kristen Malanoski, '08, history and art history double major, University of Richmond, and 2007 Arts and Sciences summer research fellow in the University Museums